William Sawalich is 2-for-2 in his ARCA Menards Series West qualifying sessions at Phoenix Raceway. He won the pole in the spring event and he won the pole for the season finale too.
In the spring event, Sawalich won the pole, led 94 of the 160 laps and was in line for the victory before his involvement in the final caution relegated him to a 13th-place result.
On Thursday night (Nov. 2), Sawalich was fastest in practice and claimed the pole. It’s his second career West pole in his fourth career start. Sawalich, the ARCA Menards Series East champion, has victories in both the ARCA Menards Series and East, but is winless in the West in 2023.
West points leader Sean Hingorani will line up second. Hingorani must finish at least 25th to clinch the title. He finished 16th in the spring event, three laps down.
Hingorani’s Venturini Motorsports teammate Dean Thompson will start third followed by Kaden Honeycutt in fourth. Honeycutt’s Cook Racing Technologies team has an 18-point lead in the owner’s points over Hingorani’s VMS No. 15.
Jack Wood starts fifth. After competing in ARCA in 2023 with Rev Racing, Wood is driving the No. 28 Pinnacle Racing Chevrolet.
Tanner Reif, Landen Lewis, Phoenix spring victor Tyler Reif, Lavar Scott and Bradley Erickson round out the top-10 starters in sixth through 10th, respectively.
Tyler Reif is one of two drivers other than Hingorani who has a mathematical chance of winning the West driver’s championship. Trevor Huddleston, who is second in points, starts deep in the field in 21st.
Thirty drivers were originally entered for the race. Twenty-eight completed a lap during qualifying.
Robbie Kennealy did not run a lap in qualifying after he was slowest (29th) in the practice session. Per ARCA Menards Series East and West series director Chris Wright, Kennealy dealt with brake issues on his No. 11 Ford but he is expected to participate in the race. He will therefore start dead last (29th).
RJ Smotherman, who was initially on the entry list, withdrew from the event.
West Qualifying Results from Phoenix
The West season finale at Phoenix will take place tomorrow (Friday, Nov. 3) at 2:30 p.m. ET with live coverage provided by FloRacing.
About the author
Mark Kristl joined Frontstretch at the beginning of the 2019 NASCAR season. He is the site's ARCA Menards Series editor. Kristl is also an Eagle Scout and a proud University of Dayton alum.
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.