Joe Gibbs Racing announced that William Sawalich has been promoted from the teams’ ARCA squad to the Xfinity Series team for the 2025 season. Salawich has won the 2023 and 2024 ARCA Menards Series East championships for Joe Gibbs Racing and will make his Xfinity Series debut on Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“I am honored to be driving the No. 18 fulltime in the Xfinity Series next year,” William Sawalich said. “It has been really cool to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing, and I feel like I have developed so much as a driver over the past two years. I still have a lot to learn, especially with moving to a new series, so I am looking forward to taking this next step in racing.”
Sawalich’s motorsports career began at nine-years-old in midget racing and in 2020 he switched to legends cars. In 2021 he moved up to late models and ran in the Caroline Pro Late Model Series. The 18-year-old Minnesota native has won 18 of 39 starts over the past seasons across the ARCA racing series three platforms and recently claimed his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series pole at Talladega Superspeedway, one day after his 18th birthday. Over the past two seasons he has driven 13 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races and has garnered three Top 10 finishes.
In 2025 he will be driving JGR’s No. 18 Starkey Toyota GR Supra and joins a Joe Gibbs Racing Xfinity lineup that features Brandon Jones and Taylor Gray. The organization has a storied history in NASCAR and has developed numerous Cup Series drivers from its Xfinity squad, including Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Daniel Suarez, Joey Logano, Erik Jones, and Christopher Bell. It’s Cup Series program has won five driver championships and 214 races.
Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
Joe Gibbs Racing is the winningest team in Xfinity Racing Series history with 214 wins, including 10 this season. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the organization has six owners’ championships and four driver championships. Joe Gibbs Racing has sent 23 different drivers to victory lane in the Xfinity Series, including 14 drivers claiming their first Series win.
“We are thrilled to announce William’s promotion to the next stage of his racing career with us,” said Steve de Souza, Executive Vice President of Xfinity Series and Development at JGR. “His outstanding record of victories and development over the past two years shows he’s ready for the Xfinity Series. We’re confident he’ll remain a strong contender for wins as he takes on this new challenge in 2025.”
