William Sawalich comes up one spot shy of first career win, Xfinity Series playoff bid

1.506 seconds. 

That's what separated NASCAR Xfinity Series rookie William Sawalich from both his first career win and a NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff berth at Gateway on Saturday. 

Sawalich ran up front all evening at the 1.25-mile track, but fellow rookie Connor Zilisch drove away in the closing laps after a late restart and cruised to his ninth win of the season. 

That left Sawalich in second, one spot shy of a win and all the spoils that would come with it. 

"It kinda is what it is," Sawalich told CW Sports. "88 (Zilisch) was on rails tonight. I think he was definitely the best car all night. (We) didn't make the playoffs, but we certainly gave them a run for their money. Proud of the boys for giving me a great car, and there's always next year." 

Sawalich and the No. 18 struggled mightily over the first half of the season, but the Eden Prairie, Minnesota, native has found plenty of speed as of late. Sawalich has five top-10 finishes over the last eight races - including consecutive runner-up efforts - and has climbed from 25th to 17th in the standings in that span. 

While Sawalich didn't qualify for the postseason, it wouldn't be surprising to see him notch his first career win over the final seven races of 2025.