Joe Gibbs Racing, Sawalich Enter Saturday’s Toledo Shore Lunch 200
Joe Gibbs Racing, Sawalich Enter Saturday’s Toledo Shore Lunch 200
(October 2, 2023) - Joe Gibbs Racing has filed an entry for the upcoming Shore Lunch 200 presented by CGS Imaging at Toledo Speedway, with Eden Prairie, Minnesota driver William Sawalich listed as the driver for the team’s No. 18 Toyota.
Sawalich is the newly-crowned champion of the 2023 ARCA Menards Series East season, taking four wins across eight races in the 2023 season.
Sawalich won the ARCA Menards Series East opener at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida, and then took a second win in the ARCA Menards Series return to Flat Rock Speedway on May 20th, in the Dutch Boy 150.
He took his maiden win in the ARCA Menards Series national tour on June 17th, when he won at Berlin Raceway over Jesse Love, Sean Hingorani, and Andres Perez de Lara.
Sawalich took two more ARCA Menards Series wins in combination ARCA Menards Series East and National tour races to close out the East series schedule, one at the Milwaukee Mile and one at Bristol Speedway to clinch his first championship.
Sawalich will be racing for another championship on Saturday - the ARCA Menards Series owner’s title will go down to this final race, as the Venturini Motorsports #20 team looks to take the owner’s title over the #18 Joe Gibbs Racing team.
This is the second consecutive year the owners points title will go down to a battle between these two teams - in 2022, the owner's title would be decided with just two laps to go at Toledo Speedway. Sammy Smith in the Joe Gibbs Racing #18 Toyota would pass Jesse Love in the Venturini Motorsports #20 car to take both the win, and the owner's title, in the most dramatic of fashions.
JGR fields teams in the NASCAR Cup Series for drivers Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex, Jr., Christopher Bell, and 2021 ARCA Menards Series champion Ty Gibbs. The team also competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with John Hunter Nemechek and two-time ARCA Menards Series East champion Sammy Smith. Smith won the previous ARCA Menards Series race at Toledo Speedway, the 2022 running of the Shore Lunch 200.
JGR won the ARCA Menards Series owner’s title in 2021 and 2022, and won East championships with drivers Joey Logano in 2007 and Max Gresham in 2011.
---
About the Shore Lunch 200
The ARCA Menards Series crowns a champion on Saturday, October 7th with the Shore Lunch 200 at Toledo Speedway. This historic race has created many memorable moments over the years as a season finale, with big finishes and a high amount of action. Tickets for this event are available now at local Menards stores! You can click here to learn more about where to pick up your tickets for this championship event. You can also follow along with Toledo Speedway on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
There will be a full day of on-track activity for the ARCA Menards Series, with practice at 11:45 am, General Tire Pole Qualifying at 12:30 pm, the Hearn Industrial on-track autograph session at 2:15 pm, and the green flag for the Shore Lunch 200 presented by CGS Imaging at 4:00 pm ET. There will also be a special Valley Truck Centers 50-lap ARCA Outlaw Super Late Model feature race on the card, scheduled for 1:30 pm. For complete event information please click below!
Fans can purchase their advance discount general admission tickets to the Shore Lunch 200 for just $20 at Menards locations in Toledo, Oregon, Holland, Findlay,
Defiance, and Sandusky in Ohio, and Belleville, Taylor, Ann Arbor, and Livonia in Michigan.