XFINITY: Contact on Lap 1 puts William Sawalich into the wall for first last-place finish
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Randy Klein, @randyjklein
William Sawalich picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s The LiUNA! at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway when his #18 Soundgear Toyota crashed without completing any of the 200 laps.
The finish came in Sawalich’s eighth series start. In the XFINITY Series last-place rankings, it was the 14th for the #18, the 168th for Toyota, and the 408th from a crash. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 55th for the #18, the 420th for Toyota, and the 1,412th from a crash.
The 18-year-old from Minnesota embarks on his first full-time XFINITY Series campaign in 2025 in a high-powered Joe Gibbs Racing entry. After standout seasons in Legends and late models, he burst onto the scene in ARCA, where in just two seasons, he stormed to wins and the last two ARCA Menards Series East championships. In between, he made his Truck Series debut at Martinsville in 2023 and finished 9th, a run he improved three starts later with a 6th at IRP. He struggled in his second part-time Truck Series campaign last year, but matched his pole at Talladega with a 24th-place XFINITY debut at Homestead, then a pole in the XFINITY Series Championship Race at Phoenix.
This year, after a late-race crash left him 28th in Daytona, Sawalich has enjoyed a solid start to the season, taking 9th in Atlanta, 9th again on the road course in COTA, then 13th last Saturday in Phoenix. For Vegas, he ran 13th in opening practice and qualified 8th on the grid with a speed of 29.668 seconds (182.014mph). No drivers were sent home as exactly 38 drivers entered the race.
Securing the 38th and final starting spot was Greg Van Alst, whose #35 Prescott Tire Pros Chevrolet was nearly four-tenths off teammate Joey Gase’s #53 Nevada Donor Network Chevrolet, which lined up 37th. Three other drivers joined them in the back due to pre-race penalties for unapproved adjustments: 15th-place Brandon Jones in the #20 Menards / OSI Toyota, 28th-place Dean Thompson in the #26 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota, and 29th-place Leland Honeyman, Jr. in the #70 LH Waterfront Construction Chevrolet.
When the green flag dropped, intervals indicated Van Alst and Gase were ahead of the three penalized drivers, but still another driver had taken last from the now 37th-place Honeyman. This was Dawson Cram, whose Mike Harmon Racing crew rebuilt the car that suffered a catastrophic brake failure and crashed in Phoenix. The Harmon team received help from other teams, then a much-needed new sponsor in Realty.com for both Vegas and next week at Homestead. By just 0.064 second, Cram qualified the car on speed – a massive accomplishment.
The field had barely picked up speed when trouble broke out off Turn 2. Coming off the corner, Sawalich was running the high lane with Jeb Burton’s #27 Golden Corral Chevrolet to his inside. Burton’s right-front made contact with Sawalich’s left-rear, causing Sawalich to skate up the track and slap the outside wall. As Burton slowed behind Sawalich in the high lane, Parker Retzlaff’s #4 Suave Chevrolet spun in the resulting chain-reaction, but like Burton avoided contact. Miraculously, no other drivers were involved, and Sawalich limped onto pit road with the rear decklid dangling from its tether.
Scoring briefly showed Retzlaff in last place before he crossed the stripe under power. Pitted in Stall 31, eight stalls short of the finish line, Sawalich immediately took over last. On Lap 3, the crew was still trying to figure out what had happened. “Just looks like the 27 was up our butt pretty good,” they said, absolving their driver of blame. “I wouldn't expect much different from (Burton) - Lap 1.” A tow truck came, towing Sawalich’s car to the garage on Lap 5. Soon after, Sawalich was checked and released from the infield care center, but CW’s microphone wasn’t working during his interview.
Van Alst was the first to be lapped on track, but managed to climb from 37th to 35th by the finish, 21 laps down. He passed both Mason Massey, who had suspension issues on his #45 Mongoose Power Solutions Chevrolet, and the #32 Overplay Chevrolet of Austin Green, who after multiple lengthy pit stops and a trip to the garage fell out with alternator issues. Rounding out the Bottom Five was Ryan Ellis, whose #71 Tablo Chevrolet suffered electrical issues which sent him coasting onto pit road. He managed to finish under power, two laps ahead of Van Alst and 19 laps down to the leaders.
Sieg brothers shine in Vegas
Both Ryan Sieg and Kyle Sieg played an impressive part during Saturday’s race. Ryan qualified 20th and his #39 Sci Aps Ford made a bid at the Top Ten, only for an issue with a stuck shifter to send him tumbling back through the rankings on a restart. The crew managed to complete repairs, and Ryan charged through the field a second time, ultimately taking home a 7th-place finish. Meanwhile, brother Kyle led six green-flag laps in the late stages and, despite the race’s torrid pace, came home 11th, the second driver one lap down, in hi #28 Toppool.com Ford.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Sawalich is the first XFINITY Series driver to fail to complete a single lap of a race at Las Vegas. He’s the first driver to fail to complete a lap of a XFINITY Series race since August 23, 2024, when Akinori Ogata wrecked on the opening lap at Daytona (LINK).
*The last time the #18 failed to complete a lap of a XFINITY Series race was April 20, 2007, when Aric Almirola’s #18 Banquet Foods Chevrolet crashed on the opening lap at Phoenix.
*This marked the first last-place for the #18 in a XFINITY Series race since August 5, 2023, when Sammy Smith crashed after 11 laps at Michigan. The number had never before finished last in a XFINITY race at Las Vegas.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #18-William Sawalich / 0 laps / crash
37) #45-Mason Massey / 113 laps / suspension
36) #32-Austin Green / 139 laps / alternator
35) #35-Greg Van Alst / 179 laps / running
34) #71-Ryan Ellis / 181 laps / running
2025 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Joe Gibbs Racing (2)
2nd) Kaulig Racing, Sam Hunt Racing, SS-Green Light Racing (1)
2025 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (3)
2nd) Chevrolet (2)
2025 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
