William Sawalich had led 474 consecutive laps on the PLM Tour when he saw the checkered flag wave in front of him in Saturday’s 100-lap feature at Tri-County.
This efficient streak came to an abrupt and shocking end as Sawalich was spun into the outside retaining wall by Jake Garcia exiting Turn 4; a result that left Garcia regretful and disappointed in victory lane.
“I didn’t want to destroy [Sawalich] there,” said Garcia. “We were leaning on each other and one of us was forced to spin. That’s how it went and I apologize [Sawalich]. We just have to move on now.”
Garcia had gradually eaten into Sawalich’s lead during the last run to the finish before finally putting himself within striking distance of the lead.
Knowing that Garcia had a faster car, Sawalich tried to play defensively so he could add a fifth straight win and close in on Luke Fenhaus’ lead in the PLM Tour standings despite losing a race at Greenville-Pickens Speedway earlier this year.
Instead, Sawalich now finds himself with a much larger deficit to Fenhaus after the last-lap crash, adding that he intends to keep the Tri-County finish in the back of his mind the next time he sees Garcia on the track right.
