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FONTANA, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 26: NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin poses for photos on the red carpet the NASCAR Cup Series Pala Casino 400 at Auto Club Speedway on February 26, 2023 in Fontana, California. (Photo by Joe Scarnici\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
William Sawalich secured his first career victory in a NASCAR national series race on April 4, 2026, at Rockingham Speedway<\/a>. Driving the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, the 19-year-old became the youngest driver to win at the track.<\/p>\n The NASCAR win also made him the first driver from Minnesota to earn a victory at the professional level in the sport. Sawalich took control on a late restart and led the final laps to secure the result in his 42nd start.<\/p>\n After the race, reactions came from his father and from NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, both of whom shared messages following the milestone.<\/p>\n Father Reacts to NASCAR Breakthrough Win<\/p>\n Sawalich\u2019s father, Brandon Sawalich<\/a>, reacted shortly after the NASCAR race. He shared a message emphasizing his son\u2019s and the No. 18 team\u2019s efforts.<\/p>\n \u201cCongratulations, son! This was all you and your incredible #18 team, Joe Gibbs Racing\u2026 commitment, hard work, and attitude\u2014the first Minnesota NASCAR driver at any level to win a professional NASCAR race. We are proud of you!\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n He followed up<\/a> with another post after seeing race highlights.<\/p>\n \u201cYoungest driver and first driver from MN to win a nascar series race! Congratulations, bud. You did it! Now, let\u2019s go!!!\u201d<\/p>\n The messages came after Sawalich completed the race without major issues and held the lead in the closing laps. His performance secured the NASCAR victory and marked a key moment in his career.<\/p>\n NASCAR Legend Mark Martin Praises Performance<\/p>\n Mark Martin<\/a> also responded to the NASCAR result. He pointed to Sawalich\u2019s ability and noted that earlier finishes did not reflect his speed.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m happy for William Sawalich. He is a better driver than the results he has been getting in that 18. They have just not hit on the combination until today,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n Sawalich replied after the race.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you. This means a lot to me and my team,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The exchange followed a race in which Sawalich stayed near the front and maintained track position during the final stage. He led the closing laps and finished ahead of the field.<\/p>\n Win Marks a Milestone Moment in NASCAR<\/p>\n The victory marked Sawalich\u2019s first NASCAR win and added a milestone at Rockingham. He became the youngest winner at the track and recorded a first for a driver from Minnesota.<\/p>\n Sawalich\u2019s performance came after several races where he showed speed but did not secure a win. At Rockingham, he maintained his position and avoided mistakes during the final laps.<\/p>\n The result also added to the season for Joe Gibbs Racing, with the No. 18 team completing the race and finishing first. The event featured close racing across the field, but Sawalich held the lead in the closing laps.<\/p>\n The reactions from his father and Martin followed immediately after the race. Both focused on the performance and the achievement as Sawalich recorded his first NASCAR victory.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tDogli Wilberforce<\/a> is a writer covering NASCAR, Formula 1, and the IndyCar Series for Heavy Sports. He has also written for Sportsnaut, FanSided, Total Apex Sports, and Last Word on Sports. Wilberforce focuses on the NASCAR Cup Series, breaking down news, driver stories, and key moments with a clear, fast, and engaging style. His work connects headlines to context, helping readers understand what matters most in the sport. More about Dogli Wilberforce<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on NASCAR\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty FONTANA, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 26: NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin poses for photos on the red…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-584263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=584263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584263\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=584263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=584263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=584263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}