The two 17-year-old upstarts dominated Friday night’s race at Phoenix Raceway – they were the only drivers to lead laps – but it was Sawalich who pulled away to a comfortable lead after the halfway break.
On lap 113 of the scheduled 150-lap race, NASCAR was forced to throw a caution for lightning strikes within an 8-mile radius of the track.
The race was halted after 115 laps and NASCAR declared the race official at approximately 10:05 p.m. ET, which handed Sawalich the victory over Ruggiero. He led three times for 66 laps while Ruggiero led the other 49.
It’s the fifth ARCA national series win for Sawalich, who won the ARCA East championship last season for Joe Gibbs Racing.
“For sure not the way I wanted to win the race, but I knew we had the best car out there. Our (car) was really good all night,” Sawalich said. “We kind of fell back in that first stint but then the guys made a real good adjustment. I’m super proud of them for doing that.
“We just ran a good race and I knew we definitely had a chance to win it and I’m really proud of that.”
NASCAR Truck Series regular Grant Enfinger finished third, Connor Mosack was fourth and Sean Hingorani rounded out the top five.
Completing the top 10 were Isabella Robusto – making her first series start, Jack Wood, Andres Perez, Toni Breidinger and Lavar Scott.
“It’s unreal. I wish we had one last caution there or the race lasted 15 laps longer. The car was definitely way better on the long runs and we saw that in the first half,” Robusto said. “Had a real good car.
“I think I have a lot I need to kind of go back and watch and learn from – like restarts and learning how the air works is going to be the main things I need to research before the next race.”
