William Sawalich scores first career NASCAR O'Reilly Series win at Rockingham

William Sawalich took the lead in stage 3 of Saturday's North Carolina Education Lottery 250 at Rockingham Speedway and never looked back, scoring his first career NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series win. The victory is also the first NOAPS win for Joe Gibbs Racing at Rockingham.

Saturday's race was dominated by young drivers, as Hendrick Motorsports' Corey Day won the first two stages and 18-year-old Brent Crews, a teammate of Sawalich's at Joe Gibbs Racing, took the lead. 

But Day had multiple poor pit stops in a row, and Crews had a mechanical issue, forcing Day out of the top 10 and putting Crews multiple laps down. That allowed Sawalich to take a comfortable lead, which he maintained in order to finally get to victory lane. 

The 19-year-old from Eden Prairie, Minnesota, earned his first career win in his 42nd start. 

"It means everything," Sawalich told CW Sports. "These boys mean everything to me. Thank you everyone for coming out."

Notable results

Brandon Jones finished runner-up to Sawalich, with Justin Allgaier, Rajah Caruth and Carson Kvapil rounding out the top five. Sheldon Creed, Taylor Gray, Parker Retzlaff, Ryan Sieg and Day completed the top 10. 

Other notable finishers include Austin Hill in 11th, Jeb Burton in 17th, Jeremy Clements in 25th, Crews in 26th and Patrick Staropoli in 34th. Sam Mayer finished (last) 38th after a mechanical issue early in the race. 

Internet sensation Cleetus McFarland spun thrice and finished 32nd, three laps down, in his O'Reilly Series debut with Richard Childress Racing.