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William Sawalich wins Nashville pole, full Xfinity Series qualifying results

Originally posted on 5 GOATs | By Jonathan Howard | Last updated May 31, 2025 5:57 PM ET

A HUGE lap from William Sawalich puts him on the pole for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race later tonight at Nashville Superspeedway. This is the second time in his Xfinity career he has won the pole and the first of the 2025 season.

William Sawalich put up a lap almost a full tenth of a second faster than Austin Hill. It wasn’t particularly close, but we will see how that translates over to the race.

Sam Mayer (P3) and Sheldon Creed (P5) are both in the top five for the Haas Factory Team. Justin Allgaier qualified P4 as the top JR Motorsports driver. Ross Chastain is the lone Cup Series talent in the race, if you don’t count Aric Almirola, the semi-retired driver. Almirola and Chastain fire off P8 and P9 later today.

There will be a lot of tough battles. The Xfinity Series gives us some of the best racing anywhere in the world, and Nashville will be no different. Check out the full starting lineup below.

William Sawalich on pole, Xfinity Series lineup for tonight at Nashville: pic.twitter.com/D5eBfhJe1r
— Jonathan Howard (@Jondean25) May 31, 2025

This is what William Sawalich needed. He has struggled this season, and showing the kind of speed he showed in qualifying is the quickest way to get it going the right way. He was the only driver to average over 155 MPH on his lap.

Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota have been putting Sawalich into EVERYTHING this season. He has raced 13 times in the Xfinity Series, four times in the Truck Series, and five times in the ARCA Menards Series, including an East Series race.

In those races, Sawalich has only two top-10 finishes in Xfinity and only a single top-10 in the Truck Series. Honestly, what is worse is the fact that he hasn’t won an ARCA race, either.

Even last night in the Truck Series, William Sawalich only managed a P24 finish. The pole award is great, but now he has to back it up.

This Xfinity Series field is stacked with talent. They will have to contend with Aric Almirola and Ross Chastain. However, we shouldn’t overlook the regulars like Justin Allgaier and Austin Hill, or even Sam Mayer. Connor Zilisch starts P10 and could have another great run in him.

This race was won by John Hunter Nemechek a year ago, so we won’t see a repeat winner. Jesse Love and Austin Hill were the top drivers in that race, P3 and P4, who are returning for this year’s edition. Could it be RCR’s race to lose? What will the night time temperatures do to the track and to how these cars handle?

This article first appeared on 5 GOATs and was syndicated with permission.

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