Meet William Sawalich, Minnesota's fastest racer who's barely old enough to drive

The fascination with racing vehicles started for young William Sawalich of Eden Prairie when he was 2. The thanks for that would be the cartoon movie "Cars," released in 2006 and followed by sequels.

"He loved that movie," said Brandon Sawalich, his father. "I probably watched it 30 times myself with him. After that, it was Hot Wheels, and later one of those little Arctic Cats. It's always been racing for William.''

Stacy Sawalich, William's mother, said: "Ever since he could walk, he always had a car in his hand, vrooming around the floor. Anything with wheels … he was fascinated."

William started out racing quarter-midgets at the Little Elko track and kept advancing until he moved to Mooresville, N.C., with his mother 18 months ago. His wins in late models mostly in the South led to offers from various racing teams, and in December he signed with Joe Gibbs Racing to drive in this year's ARCA Menard Series.

Sawalich will be running the ARCA race on June 24 at Elko Speedway. He won't turn 17 until October and he can't take the hoped-for step to running full-time in the Xfinity Series — NASCAR's Class AAA to Cup racing — until he turns 18.

"It's great to have this much time with Joe Gibbs Racing to prepare for my ultimate goal," Sawalich said in a phone conversation from Mooresville.

That would be a spot in Cup racing for Gibbs, and if he makes it — or more likely when he makes it — Sawalich will be the first Minnesotan to run regularly at the top level of stock racing since Golden Valley's Joe Frasson in the early 1970s.

Joe Gibbs, now 82, remains influential with his racing program and was involved in Sawalich's signing.

"There were several teams interested in William," his father Brandon said. "One of the things Coach Gibbs said that struck me about William is that he has 'the gift.' "

I once had an old football coach, John Hansen from Osseo, describe that sporting gift thusly: "When your mind tells an athlete to do something, he or she can do it."

There's no greater old football coach than Gibbs with the Washington Redskins, and there might not be a form of competition where having "the gift" is more important than auto racing.

Let's face it: if your mind tells you to do something in a crowd of extra-fast stock cars and you can't do it, things can get very messy.

"Joe Gibbs is really unique," William said. "It is special to be on his team. He has had so many experiences. And his [religious] faith is tremendous."

Stacy has a doctorate in audiology, and Brandon is the CEO of Starkey Hearing Technologies. Starkey Hearing is a main sponsor for William's ARCA car.

Starkey has numerous clients from the auto racing world, including Richard Petty. "He's a family friend," William said.

He also admits to rooting for "the King" in the cartoon rivalry that took place in "Cars."

Me: "I had a chance to interview the King [Petty] in his trailer with another reporter before his last race at Daytona. I told him I was from Minnesota and Petty said, 'Minnesota? You must be a Communist.' "

William: "I can imagine him saying that. He's coming to Eden Prairie to visit Starkey next week when I'll be back there."

Stacy makes numerous decisions surrounding her son's career and also represents Starkey with hearing assistance in the NASCAR world.

William's sister, Amelia, lives in Mooresville and handles much of his social media. She's dating Sam Mayer, a driver introduced by William.

"I've been to close to 300 of William's races," Stacy said. "I missed one. That was in Wisconsin Dells in a legend car and he wrecked. That told me, 'You have to be there.' "

Does Mom get nervous? "Not when he's in a stock car," she said. "But when he was in a truck with a new team for the first time earlier this year, at that track in Martinsville [Va.] … I was uncomfortable for that race."

Trucks. ARCA. Wherever Gibbs points him, and this weekend it was a doubleheader in Berlin, Mich. and Wisconsin Dells. Sawalich started it in dramatic fashion on Saturday night, with a dynamic last-lap pass to win the ARCA race in Berlin.

"The more seat time, the more laps, the better it is for my career," William said. "It's all part of the goal — to someday make it to Cup racing."

He went to Providence Academy in Plymouth through the seventh grade and has been taking classes through Liberty Online Academy since then. He is completing a junior year.

"William's humble, not cocky," Brandon said. "Kind of a James Dean look, if you go way back. He's poised. It's an emotional existence, auto racing, but even as a 16-year-old, he doesn't get flustered."

That's because young William Sawalich has the gift.