On Thursday (Sept. 19), the ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series East drivers raced hard at Bristol Motor Speedway.
How hard? A total of 87 of the 200 laps (43.5%) were run under caution. Eighteen of the 34 drivers finished the race. Only 10 finished on the lead lap.
The race served as the East’s season finale, and drama unfolded. Connor Zilisch entered with the points lead, scored the pole, led 23 laps, yet was collected in a lap 64 crash. Second-in-points William Sawalich led a race-high 102 laps and fended off Landen Lewis to win the race and successfully defend his 2023 East title.
In the national series, the top three kept their respective positions, and now only two more races remain in the season.
As such, while many drivers left with damaged racecars, who made the power rankings post-Bristol?
1. William Sawalich
Sawalich had to earn both his Bristol triumphs. He led the final 38 laps but had to deal with an overtime restart. He never waned in his performance, though. He mastered the restart en route to a 0.397-second win.
In the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Bristol later Thursday night, he finished seventh in the first two stages and ultimately wound up 11th, sandwiched between playoff drivers Tyler Ankrum and Taylor Gray.
Sawalich has proven he’s ready for the next level of racing. His Bristol performance earns him the top spot in these power rankings.
2. Andres Perez
Andres Perez started third and finished fourth at Bristol. It’s his third straight top five and fourth straight top 10. He only gave up one point in the driver standings to his Rev Racing teammate Lavar Scott. With a 53-point lead, unless something catastrophic happens to him at Kansas Speedway, all he’ll have to do to win the championship at Toledo Speedway will be start the race.
“Super consistent, that’s the key of the year and what it has been on points and everything,” he told Frontstretch post-race. “Overall like I said, pretty good year. We just need an extra bit to try to get that win which would be important for us.”
3. Lavar Scott
Scott started in 26th and impressively wheeled his No. 6 Chevrolet through the field all the way up to a third-place result. Much like his teammate Perez, Scott now has a five-race top-10 streak, with three of those in the top five.
Head-to-head, the Rev duo have faced each other 24 times in ARCA competition. Perez has come out ahead 14 times, but both drivers have been consistent.
Perez has 11 top fives, 20 top 10s and an average finishing position of 7.7. Scott has 13 top fives, 18 top 10s and an average finishing position of 8.1. While that difference is small, it’s amounted to Scott trailing Perez by 53 points, but also keeps him 31 points ahead of third-place Kris Wright.
Rev’s short track improvement this year has been noticeable too. In the East standings, Scott finished eighth and Perez ninth. Scott has improved his race craft throughout the season, and he sits smack-dab in the middle of these power rankings.
4. Connor Zilisch
Sawalich posted the fastest time in the practice session with Zilisch second quickest. Zilisch won the pole with Sawalich joining him on the starting front row. In the race, the two combined to lead the opening 74 laps (granted, Zilisch wrecked out on lap 64).
Zilisch wrecked as Logan Misuraca’s No. 9 Chevrolet slid down the racetrack. The damage was terminal to Zilisch’s ARCA race and East championship hopes.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Zilisch told FOX Sports 1 upon release from the infield care center. “I guess the No. 9 [Misuraca] and the No. 22 [Amber Balcaen], the two, they got together and the No. 9 hit the fence at the top of the track and I don’t know if she didn’t hold the break or what but came down the track right in front of me and ended our day.
“So, hate to end a season like that and lose a championship in that way too. It’s frustrating, but we’ve had a hell of a year with our Pinnacle Racing Group team and everyone at Silver Hare Racing. Nothing to hang our heads on, just a frustrating way to go out.”
His 26th-place showing was not indicative of the speed in his No. 28 Chevrolet though. Even with the DNF, Zilisch has the second-most wins and laps led in the national ARCA division this year. He indeed is a talent; his wreck just cost him two spots in these rankings.
5. Landen Lewis
In a one-off ARCA appearance in 2024, Landen Lewis showed he belongs. He piloted the No. 97 CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet to second after leading 80 laps.
“Race hard, race clean,” Lewis told Frontstretch post-race. “It come down to a green-white-checkered restart. I just didn’t get the best restart. All night long I felt like I was good on the starts and could hang on the top. I just didn’t seal the deal, that’s the hardest part to swallow. But these guys brought me a really fast car. Once again we showed it and we had a really great car.
“Unfortunately I just didn’t close the deal. Solid night, car’s in one piece. The last time we were here we blew a right-front tire with 15 to go running third. So to be able to build on that is definitely a positive, for sure.”
Bristol was Lewis’ sixth career ARCA main series start. He has one win (in his second career start at DuQuoin State Fairgrounds), three top fives and four top 10s. Furthermore, he’s started inside the top 10 in all six as well as led laps in four.
Moreover, he has 17 ARCA Menards Series West starts and three East starts. Overall, his ARCA series record reads three wins, 14 top fives, 20 top 10s and 561 laps led.
Yes, the 18-year-old has proven he belongs in an ARCA racecar. Hopefully we see more of him in 2025.
Paint Scheme of the Race
Newcomers are always welcome in ARCA. Bristol welcomed Dawson Sutton and Hettinger Racing into the ARCA field. Team owner Chris Hettinger is the father of Katie Hettinger, who made two West starts in 2022. Katie recently opted to step aside from racing to focus on her education.
Enter Sutton. Son of Rackley W.A.R. team co-owner Curtis Sutton, Dawson debuted in the Truck Series this year and has made two starts at North Wilkesboro Speedway and Nashville Superspeedway.
At Bristol, he made his ARCA debut in a pretty No. 71 Chevrolet with, yep, you guessed it, Rackley Roofing on the hood. The pretty paint scheme earns the newcomer Sutton the Bristol Paint Scheme of the Race Award.
Unfortunately, after qualifying an impressive seventh, Sutton got loose on lap 4, crashed his No. 71 and thereby ending his debut with a disappointing 33rd-place outcome.
The 18-year-old Sutton showed promise with his seventh-place start, and hopefully he will be back in ARCA.
As for the rest of the ARCA field, they will take to the track at 1.5-mile Kansas on Friday, Sept. 27 at 5:30 p.m. ET, with TV coverage provided by FS1.
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.