William Sawalich, Brock Faber are two of Minnesota’s brightest and youngest stars

William Sawalich will turn 18 in early October and will make his debut in NASCAR’s Xfinity Series at the end of the month in Homestead, Fla. The driver originally from Eden Prairie hasn’t been exactly biding his time this racing season as he awaits the opportunity in the No. 2 series in stock car racing.

On Saturday night, Sawalich was back home to run in the Shore Lunch 250 at Elko Speedway, a race in which he finished second in 2023.

This time, the result was an unforgettable victory for Sawalich: He had the best car for 150 laps, was bumped when passing a lapped car with 100 laps left and fell back into the field.

He then rallied through incredibly tight quarters and won the race by a tenth of a second over Lavar Scott, as their cars hit the finish line leaning against each other and slightly sideways.

This was Sawalich’s fifth win in eight starts in full-field ARCA races. He would be looking good in the points, except:

“I’m not in ARCA full-time. I’m not part of the points race,” he said Friday.

That’s because he has made 23 starts in the NASCAR truck series. NASCAR rules: you have to be 18 to drive in Xfinity, but you can drive trucks at 16.

“Except if the track is over a mile,” Sawalich said. “Then you have to be 18, trucks or cars.”

Most impressive, the buildup to the Xfinity racing — and then hopefully the Cup — for Sawalich is being done under the watchful eye of Joe Gibbs, 83 now and in his 33rd year of owning a racing team.

Gibbs suffered the tragedy of losing two sons, J.D. and then co-team owner Coy, in the three-year period of 2019 to 2022. Joe remained a scout for racing talent and signed Sawalich in December 2022.

“I had a couple of options, but you can’t do any better than Joe Gibbs,” Sawalich said. “He’s an amazing person.”

Personally, I look at Gibbs as the greatest NFL coach of all, and was blown away whenever around him. One moment mentioned to Sawalich on Friday: “It was Daytona. One of his cars was knocked out of a race. Gibbs climbed down from the viewing area and just stared, piercingly.”

My bottom line: I don’t think Joe has to yell at anybody. He just has to give that stare.

Sawalich smiled and said: “That is very true.”

William is the son of Brandon Sawalich, the stepson of Bill Austin, the founder of Starkey Hearing. Brandon is the CEO and located here. William and his mother Stacy Sawalich moved to Mooresville, N.C., “Race City USA” for NASCAR, at the end of 2021.

The idea was to give William every chance to improve as a driver and get on the radar of a major team. Doesn’t get more major than Joe Gibbs Racing.

William’s sister Amelia also lives in Mooresville, doing some work in racing, and is dating Sam Mayer, another driver.

William is about the most gentlemanly looking young man imaginable, but if Joe Gibbs says he has “the gift’ for racing, who will argue?

On Friday, the ARCA team brought a No. 19 racing car to KSTP-TV to do an interview in a back parking lot for “Minnesota Live.” Chris Egert, a co-host and a sports fanatic, was asked later to give his read on young William Sawalich being in the often-grimy world of auto racing.

“At first glance, the lad looks like he should be president of the math club,” Egert said. “But when I shook his hand, I could tell there’s a fire in his belly.”

Brock Faber turns 22 this month and was the Wild’s best defenseman as a rookie. I was trying to figure how far back in the 21st century you must go to find a Minnesota-raised athlete showing this much potential greatness for a local pro team.

Answer: Hall of Famer Joe Mauer with the Twins (2003-2018) and Hall of Famer Lindsay Whalen with the Lynx (2010-2018) after starting with Connecticut. The only rival since would be Adam Thielen as a Vikings receiver, but on first glance, Faber comes in third … for now.

Bob Motzko, his coach with the Gophers, was asked about Faber after the Wild signed him to an eight-year contract recently.

Motzko: “As a bantam, he was the best in Minnesota. Electric on skates and a superior athlete. The best was coaching him — all heart, team and teammates first. Never gets tired; he can go all night.

“Also, he has outstanding parents. All about enjoying the ride with their son; never about ego and personal stuff.”