William Sawalich to drive No. 18 Xfinity Series car for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2025

After a dominant season in the ARCA ranks, William Sawalich is moving up to a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series ride for 2025. Sawalich remains in the Joe Gibbs Racing pipeline and will pilot the No. 18 car next year.

The 2025 Xfinity Series season is going to be wild. There will be a ton of very young talent. William Sawalich adds to that list of talent.

This season, Sawalich won his second ARCA East championship. He also won nine total races in the national series. At just 18 years old, Sawalich is an up-and-comer with a ton of skill.

William Sawalich will drive the 18 Toyota GR Supra full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2025! pic.twitter.com/SeKUauTSck

— Joe Gibbs Racing (@JoeGibbsRacing) October 21, 2024

If you kept up with the ARCA races this season, you know how good this kid can be on the track. He has a knack for getting the most out of his car and he is not an easy driver to pass. Also, his rivalry with Connor Zilisch was born and grew throughout this 2024 season.

Now, the two teenagers will be battling it out for the Rookie of the Year honors, and maybe even a championship, in 2025. Then you throw in Carson Kvapil, Christian Eckes, Nick Sanchez, a second-year Jesse Love, Sammy Smith will only be 21 years old – that’s a lot of young talent.

William Sawalich brings talent and also funding. His family founded Starkey, a hearing aid company. That sponsor has been with Sawalich his entire career. So, no surprise they return for the 2025 Xfinity Series season.

William Sawalich vs. Connor Zilisch 2.0

Watching William Sawalich and Connor Zilisch battle in ARCA this season was one of the highlights of the entire NASCAR year. When they hit the track together, it was going to be intense.

Young drivers are constantly trying to prove themselves. So, it’s no wonder why these two were going back and forth and never giving one another an inch. The fact that Sawalich will be at JGR and Zilisch at JR Motorsports only makes this better.

Joe Gibbs knows how to develop racers. But there is a bit of a clogged pipeline to the Cup Series in that program. Denny Hamlin is the next driver up to retire, but other than that, each of those seats likely has another 10+ years with their current drivers, barring any early retirements or firings.

Ty Gibbs is 22, Christopher Bell is 29 as is Chase Briscoe. Whoever wants to take over that 11 car one day is going to have to prove that they belong. William Sawalich gets his first chance to make a claim for that ride in the 2025 Xfinity Series season.