Flat Rock Speedway

It took William Sawalich three races, but he finally obtained his first ARCA Menards Series East victory of 2023 last weekend at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.

The triumph propelled Sawalich to second in the East Series point standings, where he currently finds himself in the middle of a three-way battle between Connor Zilisch and Gio Ruggiero. Racing them has been frustrating at times for Sawalich, but he hopes the Nashville win gives him the necessary jolt to take control of the East Series title fight.

“We gained back the points we lost at Dover from getting into that incident with ,” Sawalich said. “Gio is really aggressive, but he’ll race me how I race him, which I respect. I’m still testing Connor out a little bit, but they both race really hard. Sometimes too hard.”

RELATED: Watch the Dutch Boy 150 on FloRacing

Sawalich felt his first victory outside of the main ARCA division should have been at Dover, as he knew the car prepared by Joe Gibbs Racing was potent during the long run.

Instead, Zilisch was the one celebrating in Victory Lane while Sawalich was left to compartmentalize the circumstances that knocked him out of the race. The accident also reinforced just how challenging it would be to defend his East Series championship against two other talented young drivers.

Sawalich leading 145 of the 150 laps at Nashville was reminiscent of the performances that earned him his maiden East Series title in 2023. He has every reason to believe another stellar outing is ahead Saturday at Flat Rock Speedway, the site of Sawalich’s second of four victories during his championship run.

The tight, abrasive layout of Flat Rock taught Sawalich plenty of lessons on how to save his tires and equipment for the end of the race. That knowledge proved imperative as Sawalich battled Sean Hingorani last year before making the race-winning pass with 47 laps remaining.

Making a return visit to Flat Rock’s Victory Lane will require Sawalich to apply everything he has learned about his first race there, all while exercising caution and precision while battling his expected championship rivals in Zilisch and Ruggiero.

“We’ll need to be aggressive,” Sawalich said. “We’ll also need to be smart because you don’t want to lead a whole race and have someone push you beyond the pace you want. The goal is to take care of our tires, stay up front and use the bumper when we need to.”

Sawalich’s quest for a second straight victory at Flat Rock and on the 2024 season begins on Saturday evening when the green flag for the Dutch Boy 150 waves at 7:50 p.m. ET. FloRacing will provide live flag-to-flag coverage.

Zachary Tinkle ready to capitalize on career-best run

Last weekend’s Music City 150 at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway saw Zachary Tinkle put together the best performance of his career on the ARCA Menards Series platform.

After starting in fifth, Tinkle maintained solid track position inside the top five all evening. He was unable to secure a lead-lap finish with William Sawalich pacing the field, but Tinkle did manage a hard-fought fourth in Fast Track Racing’s purple and black No. 11 Toyota.

Having been a part of the ARCA platform since 2011, Tinkle has accumulated three top-10 finishes in the premier division to go along with his seven in the East Series that now includes a top five. Tinkle’s previous best performance prior to Nashville across any ARCA race was sixth, which he obtained last year at Flat Rock Speedway and Dover Motor Speedway.

Tinkle finds himself fourth in the East Series standings three races into the season. He is the only other full-time driver to record a top-five finish this year aside from the three frontrunners in Sawalich, Connor Zilisch and Gio Ruggiero.

With momentum on his side, Tinkle enters Saturday’s Dutch Boy 150 at Flat Rock with a perfect opportunity to score his second top-five finish in a row.

Toni Breidinger making first East Series start of 2024

The last time Toni Breidinger made a standalone appearance in the ARCA Menards Series East was at Dover Motor Speedway in 2023, when she finished seventh two laps down.

Breidinger is utilizing an off weekend for the premier ARCA division to compete in Saturday’s Dutch Boy 150 at Flat Rock Speedway, where she will have a chance to build upon a solid 2023 campaign with Venturini Motorsports.

After not recording a top five prior to 2023, Breidinger put together her best statistical season in ARCA by tallying four of them across 13 premier series starts. This included a career-best finish of third at Kansas Speedway.

In five races, Breidinger has yet to match the efficiency displayed in the second half of 2023. She does have three top-10 performances, but two promising runs at Dover and the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway were derailed by crashes.

With Kevin Reed Jr. on top of her pit box for Saturday, Breidinger looks to make a statement by becoming the first woman to win on the ARCA platform since Gracie Trotter triumphed in an ARCA Menards Series West event in 2020.

NOTES:

• After making his ARCA Menards Series East debut at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway last week, Jayson Alexander is back in the No. 10 for Fast Track Racing. A men’s lacrosse player at Queens University of Charlotte, Alexander seeks to improve upon an eighth place performance in his debut event.
• Veteran Jeffery MacZink is back on the ARCA platform since scoring a 14^th-place finish at Michigan International Speedway last year. Flat Rock Speedway was the site of MacZink’s only appearance in the ARCA Menards Series East last year, where he settled for a ninth-place run after starting eighth.
• Blaine Donahue will make his ARCA Menards Series East debut at Flat Rock Speedway on Saturday driving the No. 01 PALM Charter School Toyota for Fast Track Racing. A pit crew member for Parker Kligerman in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Donahue hopes to make a strong impression amongst the East Series regulars.