William Sawalich has been beaten up and emotionally challenged but it all culminated in his first NASCAR O’Reilly Series victory on Sunday at Rockingham Speedway.<\/p>\n
As a (younger) teenager, Sawalich won at every step along the way, including 13 victories in the ARCA Racing Series, but went 0-for-41 upon reaching what used to be called the Xfinity Series. There were some ugly crashes along the way too.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t make the playoffs last year and this season showed promise but not the results until Saturday at the North Carolina Motor Speedway when he nailed the final restarts and executed through traffic in the closing laps.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, last year was not going to plan,\u201d Sawalich said. \u201cWe started to pick it up in the second half of the season, and my guys stood behind me, and that helped keep my head up after that first half of just bad luck and making some mistakes.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019ve learned from those mistakes and honestly believe they have helped me get to where I am now. Even the start of this season hasn\u2019t gone great but I have a lot of confidence going into Bristol. I think our points situation is good. This team is showing what we can do now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sawalich is generally liked by his peers. The 19-year-old is regarded as an affable presence in the garage and both drivers who finished behind him on Saturday was happy to see him break through. That includes Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Brandon Jones, who previously worked with crew chief Jeff Meendering, and Justin Allgaier.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been where he is,\u201d said Jones of his 100-plus winless streak to start his own career. \u201cBeen there, done that. It is frustrating. It is difficult.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut man, they ran a flawless race today. I really saw it. He flawlessly executed that restart, and it\u2019s hard to do when you don\u2019t have as many shots at it, that many chances, and it just makes me really proud of everyone at JGR.\u201d<\/p>\n
Allgaier offered all the empathy possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh man, I can\u2019t even imagine the emotions going through his mind right now,\u201d Allgaier said. \u201cLook, nobody wants to struggle. Nobody wants to have those tough days, but you can’t realize how important today is without those struggles, right?<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd a lot of these younger guys, they win at every level at really an alarming rate, and you get here and expect it to be the same and it just doesn\u2019t go that way. You start questioning everything \u2013 the team, the people and yourself \u2013 and it\u2019s a hard place to be in.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ve gone through it. I’ve lived it. But when you have a day like today and you’re able to persevere and do a masterful job, I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if it opens the door for him to go on a tear now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sawalich said he just needed to compartmentalize.<\/p>\n
\u201cResetting every week was probably the toughest part,\u201d Sawalich said. \u201cIt definitely mentally impacts you when you carry a bad finish over to the next week. I\u2019ve had to learn to apply the positives to even bad finishes. Confidence is a huge thing for a driver and I\u2019ve learned a lot about that over the past year.\u201d<\/p>\n
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