Joe Gibbs Racing, just days after announcing the return of Taylor Gray, will continue to have another familiar face driving one of its NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series cars in 2027.
William Sawalich will return to the No. 18 Toyota in 2027, Joe Gibbs Racing announced on Thursday. The Minnesota native will enter his third full-time season with the organization, adding familiarity to NASCAR’s second-highest series.
âI am excited to be returning to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2027,â Sawalich said in a press release âThe team has become a family to me since I first started here. Weâve been making great progress this year, so I am excited to continue that into next season.â
SoundGear, Sawalich’s longtime sponsor, will continue to support the No. 18 team in 2027, the team revealed.
âWilliam has been part of our racing family at Joe Gibbs Racing for almost four years now and itâs exciting to watch his continued progress,â Heather Gibbs, owner of Joe Gibbs Racing, said. âHe earned his first win in the OâReilly Series earlier this year at Rockingham and we expect our No. 18 team to build off that success for the remainder of this season and into 2027.â
William Sawalich’s First Win
Sawalich scored his first-ever O’Reilly Series victory earlier this year at Rockingham Speedway, one of the most difficult tracks on the circuit.
The win was a popular one for a humble 19-year-old racer out of a state that never had a NASCAR race winner.
Even NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin chimed in on Sawalich’s first win.
âIâm happy for William Sawalich. He is a better driver than the results he has been getting in that 18. They have just not hit on the combination until today,â Martin said.
The win came after a difficult start to the 2026 campaign for Sawalich. Up until that point, he only had two top 10s and was 14th in the standings. But leading 80 laps at Rockingham en route to the victory has changed his season completely. Ever since, he has picked up the pace.
Sawalich now has six top fives and nine top 10s on the year. However, he is just outside of The Chase, sitting seven points behind Gray for the 12th position.
The battle to make The Chase is now between Sam Meyer, Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Brent Crews, Gray and Sawalich, as well as Rajah Caruth.
Sawalich’s Future
With another year to hone in on his craft in the O’Reilly Series, Sawalich has time to continue to improve. However, his 2026 stats should help solidify him as a future potential Cup Series driver.
He has shown he can improve with more track time and revisiting racetracks. His improvements come after a difficult rookie season, in which he finished 18th in the standings after missing two races due to injury.
In Sawalich’s rookie year, he earned three top fives and nine top 10s with an average finish of 18.9, a mark that has now improved to 16.6 in 2026.
With this extension, he will be able to focus on racing rather than worrying about where he ends up.
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