Joe Gibbs Racing continues to solidify its driver roster for the 2027 NASCAR season. The team now has confirmed another driver who will return for another season.
Videos by FanBuzz
William Sawalich, the driver of the No. 18 Toyota GR Supra, has signed a contract extension. He will compete full-time in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series once again while Soundgear returns as his primary sponsor.
Sawalich will continue to work as a teammate to Taylor Gray, who signed a contract extension ahead of the race weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
A Minnesota native, Sawalich has spent his entire O'Reilly Auto Parts Series tenure with one team. He made his debut for JGR during the 2024 season, and he made three starts. He then moved to a full-time schedule in 2025.
This rookie season featured some struggles as Sawalich posted an average finish of 18.9 and missed the playoffs. He had nine top-10 finishes and nine DNFs.
This season, he has shown improvements. He has already matched the nine top-10s in the first 22 races, and he has scored his first career win. He captured the race at Rockingham Speedway after leading 80 laps.
DNFs have still remained an issue, but Sawalich has kept himself in contention for a spot in The Chase. Now that he has his contract extension in place, he can focus on continuing to make progress in NASCAR's secondary series.
"William has been part of our racing family at Joe Gibbs Racing for almost four years now and it's exciting to watch his continued progress," said Heather Gibbs, owner of Joe Gibbs Racing.
"He earned his first win in the O'Reilly Series earlier this year at Rockingham and we expect our 18 team to build off that success for the remainder of this season and into 2027."
JGR has confirmed that two of its current full-time drivers will return for the 2027 season. The only questions remaining are the statuses of Brandon Jones and Brent Crews.
The team has not provided any updates about the veteran's contract as he continues to contend for wins, nor has it provided an update about the young rookie who turned 18 earlier this year.
