Connor Girisch has won another race in the ARCA Menards Series, this time at Iowa Speedway, and the 17-year-old is fast on his way to competing full-time in NASCAR in 2025.
There was a bit of a brawl on the short track, with William Sawalich holding his own against Connor Girisch until the very end. These are two of the brightest stars in stock car racing right now, and tonight probably won’t be their last duel.
Girish took the win after the final restart with three laps to go, overcoming contact to take the victory, making the young driver the first driver to win two races in the ARCA Menards Series this season.
If you’re looking for the next great American racer, it’s Connor Girish. Whether you’re racing in IMSA, CARS Tour, ARCA Menards Series or Mazda MX-5 Cup, Girish can do it. These are just some of the series he’s won in this year. He’s also earned a pole position in the Truck Series.
The No. 28 Chevrolet definitely needed to win tonight, and despite contact during the race and even a crash and run by Sawalich late in the race, Girisch still managed to pull off another ARCA victory.
There are a lot of great young drivers out there, but Girisch is one of the best, and if he’s not offered a spot in 2025, he’ll likely end up in the Cup Series sooner rather than later.
The boy is going to be a future superstar according to the way people in the industry talk about him.
William Sawalich has ‘lost respect’ for Conor Girisch
Now, this race wouldn’t be without drama. This wouldn’t be the first time Conor Girisch and William Sawalich have traded paint. They also collided at Dover, where Girisch also won.
So it’s no surprise that Sawalich tried to get a little revenge. But in the end it didn’t work. Sawalich also wasn’t happy with how Girisch jumped the restart during tonight’s race at Iowa. ARCA officials reviewed the restart, but no penalty was assessed.
Sawalich after the race:
“It was definitely a big effort,” he told Hazer Deveau, “and I can’t thank the team enough, especially because it got us to the front. We bounced back and the Starkey Sound Group Toyota Camry was really good tonight. We had the speed but just weren’t good enough at the end. It felt like something happened to the right front early on. I’m not sure what it was but it was the same throughout the race.”
“So, it was definitely an obstacle to combat that. [Connor Zilisch] I missed the start on one restart and lost a little bit of respect for him then. Other than that, I did the best I could.”
Will the rivalry continue this season? Connor Girisch drives for Chevrolet and William Sawalich drives for Toyota, so the relationship is just too perfect. Could we see a multi-year feud brewing between these two?
