Connor Zilisch Dominates ARCA at Phoenix, Sean Hingorani Clinches Championship

For the seventh time across all ARCA platforms this season, Connor Zilisch has proven victorious, winning at Phoenix Raceway in the ARCA Menards Series West season finale in dominating fashion.

It was the 18-year-old’s first West start, and like he has been known to do in ARCA’s national division, the ARCA Menards Series East and the NASCAR Xfinity Series, he found victory lane in the 100-lap event. He had to hold off a late charge on a late race restart by William Sawalich, but Zilisch was able to take the checkered flag after pulling away from Sawalich in turn 3 with three laps to go. 

“When we struggle at a track so hard, to bring a fast car the next time at a track similar, I like it,” Zilisch told MRN. “It’s been an awesome year with this team, and grateful to cap it off with a win.” 

Elsewhere, Sean Hingorani was able to capture his second consecutive West championship, finishing third for Venturini Motorsports. Hingorani recorded three wins on the season and notched top fives in 11 of the 12 races he ran, driving for four different organizations (Venturini, Sigma Performance Services, Hattori Racing Enterprises and Jerry Pitts Racing).

“It’s been a long season with a lot of different people who helped me get to this point,” Hingorani told MRN. “It was harder this year, acclimating [with] a different team every week. Two tries and two times, it’s very special.”

Tyler Reif and Central Coast Racing were able to take home the West owner’s points title with their eighth-place finish on the day.

Outside of Zilisch, Hingorani and Reif, Sawalich crossed the line in second, Gio Ruggiero fourth and Brent Crews fifth.

The remainder of the top 10 saw Kaden Honeycutt finish sixth, Jake Finch seventh, Kole Raz ninth and Kyle Keller 10th.  

On the initial drop of the green flag, it did not take long for the field to pan out in typical Phoenix fashion. Sawalich and Zilisch both drove below the racetrack, racing side by side for the entirety of the first lap. It was Zilisch who led the lap, however, eventually powering around the driver of the No. 18 on the outside into turn 1. 

Just as Zilisch began to really pull away from Sawalich, the first caution of the afternoon flew. Rip Michels went for a spin in turn 1, as the No. 71 had a left rear tire go down. 

As the race restarted once again, it was much of the same upfront. Zilisch rocketed around Sawalich from the outside lane, doing so before the pair completed a full lap, taking the lead in turn 3. Sawalich would not let Zilisch get away as easy on this run, however, as the two gapped the remainder of the field together. 

Zilisch continued to outrun Sawalich, extending his lead to well over three seconds as the green-flag run reached its 20th lap. The trend continued, as the run end with the lap 50 halfway break, with Zilisch and Sawalich still running first and second, respectively. 

On the other side of the race break, Sawalich got his best restart of the day, getting to the inside of Zilisch into turn 1. Sawalich pulled up in front of Zilisch as the two reached the backstretch, nearly making contact with both each other and the outside wall in the process. Sawalich’s run stalled out from there, allowing Zilisch to once again power to the outside, taking the lead on the next lap and extending that lead to over a second three laps later. Ten laps into the run, that lead was over two-and-a-half seconds. 

With 20 laps to go, Zilisch’s domination of the race continued, pulling out to a lead of over six seconds over then-second-place Sawalich. By 15 laps to go, it was up to eight seconds. Just as it looked like Zilisch would coast to an easy victory, another caution flew, as Marco Andretti had a potential engine issue in turn 2. 

Zilisch and Sawalich again restarted side by side ahead of the final restart of the race, and it was a competitive one. The two ran side by side for two laps before Sawalich lost the nose entering turn 3, allowing Zilisch to pull away uncontested to the checkered flag. 

ARCA West Phoenix Results

Aside from a scheduled exhibition race at the soon-to-close Irwindale Speedway, the ARCA Menards Series season has come to a close, with the national series returning next February at Daytona International Speedway. The East and West division’s full schedules have not yet been revealed.