The Path From Short Track Racing to NASCAR

An example of the one path to NASCAR through the lens of the ARCA East and ASA STARS National Tour races for the weekend of March 23 -24.

This weekend at 5 Flags Speedway is a great way to see how drivers can progress through the stock car racing ranks and on to the NASCAR Series’ including ARCA, Trucks, and Xfinity with an eye on the Cup Series.

This weekend 5 Flags Speedway hosts two national races in addition to their weekly lineup. On two consecutive days, two races allows several drivers to run double duty on two different national stages.

These two series, the ARCA East and the ASA STARS National Tour, can be a stepping stone for the drivers to take on their way to competing in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Below I look at several drivers who entered one of the two races at 5 Flags this weekend and their past and future NASCAR starts.

ARCA Menards East Series, Pensacola 150?

Bubba Pollard has been a staple in late-model stock car racing for many years.? Bubba is a fan favorite and has many marquee wins to his name.? Pollard recently earned his second consecutive Rattler win at South Alabama Raceway, joining only two additional drivers to win three Rattler races.? Not only does Pollard have multiple Rattler wins, but he has over 100 late model wins in his career.

Much like Dale Earnhardt ruled at Daytona where the prestigious 500 was elusive for many years, Pollard has many wins at 5 Flags Speedway but has come up short at the Snowball Derby. Expect Pollard to be very competitive in each of the three races he will be competing in this weekend.

JR Motorsports has seen the success of Pollard at the short track level and is giving Pollard a long overdue chance at the NASCAR level.? It was recently announced that Pollard will make his Xfinity debut for JR Motorsports in the No. 88 at Richmond Raceway.

William Sawalich the 17-year-old, Sawalich has made a name for himself in the last two years in late models and beyond.? Sawalich began racing at the age of 9 in MN and moved to late models in 2021 in the Carolina Pro Late Model Series.? The next year Sawalich expanded his late model racing to include starts in the CARS Tour, CRA, ARCA Midwest, and the Southern Super Series.

2023 was a turning point for Sawalich as he became the youngest driver to win the All-American 400 while also winning the ARCA East season championship for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Sawalich made six Craftsman Truck Series starts for Tricon Garage in 2023 and is expected to make nine starts for the team in 2024.

Gio Ruggiero is another young driver who began racing in Legend Cars at Seekonk Speedway.? Ruggiero’s late model career took off in 2022 when he ran the Show Me the Money Pro Late Model Series at Montgomery Motor Speedway, winning the championship that same year.?

Ruggiero again increased his schedule in 2023, running full-time in three different series including the CRA Super Series, the Southern Super Series, and the newly formed ASA Stars National Tour.? Ruggiero won the championship in both CRA and the Southern Super Series and finished 3rd in the point standings in the ASA Stars Tour.

Ruggiero is a member of Toyota Racing Development, and as such, I expect we will see him make a Craftsman Truck start this year or next.

Connor Zilisch – ?2022 began Zilisch’s Pro Late Model racing career in the Carolina Pro Late Model Series, driving for Setzer Racing and Development.

In 2023 Zilisch drove the No. 25 Rackley WAR car at several CARS Tour events, earning one win at Ace Speedway.

Zilisch also began racing Late Model Stock Cars in 2022 winning 2 races at Hickory Motor Speedway.?

This year Zilisch was signed as a Trackhouse Racing Development Driver.? Zilisch will have a busy year, competing in multiple series including the NASCAR Xfinity Series with JR Motorsports, the Craftsman Truck Series with Spire Motorsports, the ARCA Menards Series for Pinnacle Racing Group, the CARS Tour, The Trans-Am Series for Silver Hare Racing, the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Era Motorsport and the Global MX-5 Cup.

Zilisch’s 2024 racing season got off to an impressive start as he was a part of the winning team at the 24 Hours of Daytona in the LMP2 class.

Jake Finch got his racing start in go-karts, and in 2020 drove three late-model races for Anthony Campi Racing, winning one race. Phoenix Racing, a team owned by his father, began competing again in 2021 with Finch behind the wheel for several races in 2021 and in several SRL Southwest Tour races in 2022.

Phoenix Racing and Finch made their ARCA East debut in 2022 at Five Flags Speedway.? That same year Finch made additional ARCA starts in both the family-owned Phoenix Racing and Venturini Motorsports.

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ASA Start National Tour Sunshine State 200

Three drivers mentioned above will be running in the ARCA East race and the ASA STARS National Tour races at 5 Flags Speedway this weekend including Bubba Pollard, Gio Ruggiero, and Jake Finch.

Sean Hignorani is the 2023 ARCA Menards Series West champion and Hignorani also had the opportunity to make two Craftsman Truck Series starts in 2023.

Hignorani has spent much of his racing career in the Southwest, beginning in Legends car in 2021.? Just one year later Hignorani made his first ARCA Menards West series start at Evergreen Speedway.

In 2023 Hignorani ran full-time in the ARCA East Series for Venturing Motorsports while at the same time competing full-time in the ARCA Menards West Series. Unfortunately, ?Hignorani was involved in on-track incidents placing him on probation and giving him a one-race suspension.

For the 2024 season, we will see Hignorani driving for Hattori Racing Enterprises in select ARCA Menards, ARCA East, and ARCA West races.

Colby Howard began racing dirt bikes at the age of six, and moved into Bandoleros and Late Models after a leg injury.

Howard raced two NASCAR Truck races in 2019 with Youngs Motorsports, and in 2020 moved to a part-time Xfinity ride with JD Motorsports. Howard stayed with JD Motorsports during the 2021 season, but in 2023 returned to the Craftsman Truck Series with CR7 Motorsports.