ROCKINGHAM, N.C. — There was one overriding theme that emerged from the NASCAR weekend at Rockingham Speedway: youth was served.
After a rough 2025 rookie campaign and a lackluster start to the 2026 season, 19-year-old William Sawalich scored a convincing breakthrough win in Saturday’s North Carolina Education Lottery 250 presented by Black’s Tire.
In that same NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race, 20-year-old Corey Day led the field to the green flag after scoring the first pole position of his burgeoning career.
Brent Crews, who turned 18 on March 30 and is now eligible to compete in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series on the full array of NASCAR tracks, celebrated by leading 30 laps and scoring points in the first two stages. But for an unnecessary two-tire call late in the race—when other contenders took four—Crews might have been battling for the win with Sawalich, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate.
In Friday’s Black’s Tire 200 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race, 23-year-old Corey Heim did what he invariably does—scoring two stage wins, setting the fastest lap and winning the race to record the first “perfect” 76-point race of the season in any of NASCAR’s top three national series.
And in the ARCA Menards Series East race that preceded Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series event, 15-year-old Tristan McKee started from the pole and led all 125 laps in a dominating win.
For Sawalich and Day, Saturday’s race provided career milestones.
Neither Sawalich’s performance nor his racing luck had matched the quality of his Joe Gibbs Racing equipment—until Saturday. After starting 14th, he advanced through the field, finishing fifth in Stage 1 and second in Stage 2.
In what could represent a breakout accomplishment, Sawalich led the final 79 laps after charging to the front after a restart on Lap 172 of 250. The victory was a culmination of lessons learned.
“I think just resetting every week was probably the toughest part, and not to carry a bad finish over to the next week, because that definitely mentally impacts you,” said Sawalich, the first Minnesota-born driver to win a race in any of NASCAR’s top three touring divisions.
“So just, honestly, forgetting about last week and anything that happened that was bad and taking the positives and applying it to the next week. Confidence is a huge thing as a driver, I think, and I learned that over the last year.”
Though the statistics won’t say so, Saturday’s race was Day’s best so far as a NASCAR driver. Yes, he scored his seventh straight top-10 finish, but the 10th-place result was his worst in that streak.
On the other hand, Day dominated the first half of the event. His two stage wins were the first and second of his career. He led a race-high 118 laps. And when two snafus on pit road forced him to the rear of the field, Day didn’t panic. Methodically, he worked his way up to 10th and settled for a less-than-satisfying outcome.
Most important, however, was his lengthy time at the front of the field in the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
“I don’t know what the exact turning point is,” Day said afterwards. “I felt really good at Las Vegas this year, felt really good there last year and then this year, with more experience and having the experience of leading laps.
“And kind of that same thing I did today. But that was the first time I had got it. So just trying to keep building off of that.”
Earlier this season, Day drew criticism for on-track mistakes that jeopardized the results of Hendrick affiliate cars at JR Motorsports. His performance at Rockingham, however, is emblematic of the progress he has made.