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ARCA Power Rankings: William Sawalich, Connor Zilisch Lead the Way

The ARCA Menard’s Series’ doubleheader weekend saw two of the sport’s most promising up-and-coming prospects find victory lane at two very different disciplines of racing.

Connor Zilisch found victory lane in his fourth straight ARCA race at the two-mile Michigan International Speedway on Friday evening (Aug. 16). Two days later (Aug. 18), William Sawalich dominated his way to victory on the mile-long dirt track at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield.

So how do Sawalich and Zilisch stack up in this week’s edition of the Frontstretch ARCA Power Rankings?

See also
William Sawalich Leads Wire-to-Wire in Springfield ARCA Race

1. William Sawalich

Sawalich is coming off a dominant victory at Springfield, a race in which he led every lap, despite a late-race one-lap shootout restart after an incident on the scheduled white flag. Sawalich was able to hold off Lavar Scott on the restart, winning his sixth race of the season and third straight in races that he has entered.

Unlike a few of his competitors, Sawalich didn’t run both races this weekend. As he is yet to turn 18, he was ineligible to run at Michigan.

The season to date for Sawalich has been impressive, perhaps even better than his rookie year in 2023. Across all divisions of ARCA, Sawalich has found victory lane eight times. In his full rookie season last year, he won a total of seven times.

This season, outside of a crash at Dover Motor Speedway that resulted in a 17th place finish, Sawalich hasn’t finished worse than third. That’s good for eight podium finishes in nine races, an average finish of 3.1. Further, Sawalich has sat on the pole seven times this season and has only started outside of the front row once.

The remainder of Sawalich’s ARCA season is largely dependent on his age. He’s eligible for five of the six races remaining on the schedule, only excluding Kansas Speedway at the end of September. That race is roughly a week before Sawalich’s 18th birthday, meaning Tanner Gray will be in the Joe Gibbs Racing entry one last time this season instead. As for next week at the Milwaukee Mile, Sawalich led 141 of the 150 laps in last year’s race en route to victory lane. 

2. Connor Zilisch

As impressive as Sawalich has been, Zilisch has matched him every step of the way. Zilisch went into Friday’s race at Michigan winning in each of his previous three ARCA starts this season. However, the race marked his first time running the series at a track larger than a mile in length. Zilisch responded the only way he knows how: by finding victory lane. He led the final 23 laps of the race, taking the lead from a dominant Gray after the second race break. 

Like Sawalich, Zilisch didn’t contest both races this weekend, running only the race at Michigan. The win for Zilisch keeps his 2024 season perfect to date and makes his career ARCA national division average finish a very impressive 1.5. Despite it being his first start on a larger oval, Zilisch spent the majority of the race inside the top three, battling with Gray and Andres Perez throughout the 100-lap event. 

Looking toward the end of the 2024 season, Zilisch’s ARCA schedule is beginning to thin out. His only announced starts to this point are the Milwaukee Mile next week and Bristol Motor Speedway in three weeks, as both of those races run in conjunction with ARCA East. Zilisch currently holds a 22-point lead with two races to go in the East over the aforementioned Sawalich. 

3. Andres Perez

Perez entered the doubleheader weekend as the points leader and grew his points lead by five points in the process. Perez finished runner-up at Michigan, leading six laps after winning the pole. His Springfield race was more of a struggle, finishing 15th after early overheating issues. He now has a 49-point lead over teammate and current season standings runner-up Scott. 

Perez’s race at Michigan was not all that shocking. The 19-year-old led 43 laps before a mechanical issue in the 2023 edition of the race and came back in 2024 just as strong. After Scott suffered a tire issue early, Perez was able to capitalize and grow his points lead by 15 points heading into Springfield. His runner-up finish was his third of the season, all coming since Berlin Raceway in early July, and the fifth of his career.

Springfield didn’t treat Perez as kindly. An overheating issue put the No. 2 team behind the wall early, effectively ending their race before it started. However, Perez was able to come back out on track and pass a few cars also in the garage en route to a 15th-place finish. The result was his worst finish of the season, and his first outside the top 10 since the season opener at Daytona International Speedway. 

Perez heads into Milwaukee with a commanding points lead and only six races left on the schedule to find victory lane for the first time. In 2023, Perez finished seventh at Milwaukee after qualifying sixth. 

4. Lavar Scott

Scott entered the doubleheader weekend at Michigan and Springfield as one of, if not the hottest driver in the series in recent weeks. Scott had a streak of four straight finishes inside the top four prior to Michigan, and had climbed to second in the standings in the process. He narrowly missed out on his first career victory at Elko Speedway, getting beaten by Sawalich at the finish line by a matter of inches.

It was a tale of two drastically different races for Scott this weekend, much like his Rev Racing teammate Perez. Scott found himself behind the eight ball early at Michigan after a tire issue in the first 20 laps of the race, forcing him to battle back all race. He ended up finishing 15th, 11 laps down by the time the checkered flag flew, dropping noticeably from an already steep points deficit behind Perez.

Springfield was a different story. Scott was able to recover his losses from Michigan after misfortune to Perez, finishing fifth. The Rev Racing driver was in line for a second-place finish, but he slipped on the overtime restart, moving him back to fifth on the white flag.

Going to Milwaukee, Scott is 49 points back of the points leader Perez, though he’s also a healthy 19 points ahead of third place as well. In the 2023 running at Milwaukee, he finished eighth and will look to improve upon that this season, as it’s only the fourth track he’s returning to for the second time at the ARCA level. 

5. Kris Wright

Wrapping up the top five is Venturini Motorsports driver Kris Wright. Wright nearly stole a win at Elko, capitalizing on the fierce battle between Sawalich and Scott in the closing laps to finish third at the line, right alongside the leaders. He went into Michigan and Springfield with momentum on his side, and his weekend showed it. 

Wright was fast at Michigan, finishing inside the top five after running there for much of the race. He was able to situate himself in the third position in points after that race, surpassing Greg Van Alst who lost out on his full-time bonus after skipping Springfield.

It was that race at Springfield that Wright really showed out, however. Despite having limited dirt experience, Wright spent much of the first half of the race inside the top three and was running down Sawalich for the lead at the time of the halfway break caution. Disaster would strike, though, and Wright would lose power under caution, needing a push back to pit road and losing a lap in the process.

After losing power once again on a subsequent caution, Wright rallied back to the lead lap, finishing seventh despite the mechanical struggles. The finish was certainly not indicative of the speed he showed, however, giving him potential momentum heading into the second dirt race of the season at DuQuoin State Fairgrounds in two weeks. 

Looking ahead to Milwaukee, Wright has never seen the racetrack in a stock car and will turn his first laps there Saturday (Aug. 24) when the series has their allotted practice time. He sits third in points with six races left, 68 points behind current leader Perez.

See also
Isabella Robusto, Taylor Reimer Make ARCA History at Springfield

Paint Schemes of the Race

With two races on the weekend, two different cars stood out on track as the paint schemes of the race. 

At Michigan, Frankie Muniz ran with Reaume Brothers Racing for the first time in ARCA, and did so with VYPER as the sponsor. Sporting a sleek red and black look, it takes home the Michigan honors for paint scheme of the race. Muniz finished 12th, four laps down after an electrical issue. 

As for Springfield, Taylor Reimer finished third in her second career ARCA start for Venturini Motorsports. Her car, sponsored by BuzzBalls Cocktails, highlighted by a mix of bright pink and white, took home honors for the paint scheme of the race on the dirt. 

Next week, the Sprecher 150 at Milwaukee will kick off at 1 p.m. ET, and FS1 will carry the broadcast. The race will be run as a combination race with ARCA East.

About the author

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

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