NASCAR on TV this week

William Sawalich Earns ARCA East Pole at Nashville

The ARCA Menards Series East holds its annual running of the Music City 200 at the famed Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway tonight (Saturday, May 13), and current points leader William Sawalich earned the pole for the event.

It’s the 16-year-old’s third pole in as many races this season, winning two of them by virtue of the quickest qualifying lap, and the other coming due to a rain out at Dover Motor Speedway. Sawalich owns an average finish of 2.5 heading into Nashville this evening, finishing first at Five Flags Speedway and fourth at Dover. He’ll look to add to his points over second-place Jake Finch lead this evening. 

Starting beside Sawalich will be fellow Toyota driver Gio Ruggiero, who is making his ARCA series debut this evening, driving for Venturini Motorsports in the No. 20. Ruggiero was no slouch in his first qualifying effort in the series, putting up a lap of 19.454 seconds, which was only a few hundredths off of Sawalich’s time of 19.415 seconds.

See also
Should ARCA East at Nashville Join the All American 400 Weekend?

Fellow VMS driver Sean Hingorani will start third, putting up a lap of 19.589 seconds in his own right. The 16-year-old California-born driver hasn’t found victory lane in the East series yet this year, despite finishing inside of the top 10 in both previous races. However, he has found success in the ARCA Menards Series West, winning two of the first three events on the opposite side of the country.

Rounding out the second row will be Luke Fenhaus, who will start his No. 28 in fourth position, with a lap of 19.682 seconds. In both of his previous starts this season, Fenhaus has finished inside of the top five, including a runner-up finish to open the season in Pensacola. 

To conclude the top five, the oldest of the top qualifiers at 19 years old, Lavar Scott will start his Rev Racing No. 6 Chevrolet from fifth later this evening. Like Fenhaus, Scott has finished inside of the top five in both of his previous starts this season, finishing fifth at both Pensacola and Dover. The New Jersey-born driver also earned a top five in the national division, finishing fourth at Daytona International Speedway to open the season. Scott will have Tanner Arms starting beside him on row three. 

To round out the top 10, all four Fast Track Racing entries will start seventh through 10th, with Zachary Tinkle and Tim Monroe sharing row four, and Stephanie Moyer and Brayton Laster in row five. 

Of the 15 cars entered in the event, 13 took time in qualifying. Jake Finch, in the No. 1 Toyota, did not take a lap. Finch enters the race in second place in the overall points standings. Nate Moeller in Wayne Peterson’s No. 06 also did not set a time during the session.

ARCA East at Nashville Fairgrounds Qualifying Results

The green flag for tonight’s Music City 200 at Nashville is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET, with live coverage coming on FloRacing, though a subscription will be needed to view the event.

Josh joined Frontstretch in 2023 and currently covers the ARCA Menards Series. Born and raised in Missouri, Josh has been watching motorsports since 2005. He currently is studying for a Mass Communication degree at Lindenwood University

Sign up for the Frontstretch Newsletter

A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.