Rather than running three full-time cars for three full-time drivers and a fourth full-time car as a "star car" to be shared by multiple drivers throughout the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series season like they did in 2025 when they actually won the owner championship with Aric Almirola as the primary part-time driver of the No. 19 car, Joe Gibbs Racing opted to go with four full-time drivers this year.
William Sawalich is back in the No. 18 Toyota, Brandon Jones is back in the No. 20 Toyota, and Taylor Gray is back in the No. 54 Toyota. Rookie Brent Crews was named the full-time driver of the No. 19 Toyota.
However, that "full-time" status came with a caveat, because the Hickory, North Carolina native would not be allowed to compete in four of the season's first six races since his 18th birthday is not until Monday, March 30.
Drivers aged 17 and under are not allowed to run O'Reilly Series races on ovals more than 1.25 miles in length.
Chase Briscoe replacement confirmed for Darlington race
Full-time Tricon Garage Truck Series driver Gio Ruggiero ran the season's first two races at Daytona International Speedway and EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) behind the wheel of the No. 19 Toyota, before Crews ran the races at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) and Phoenix Raceway.
Full-time Joe Gibbs Racing Cup Series driver Chase Briscoe took over behind the wheel of the No. 19 car for this past weekend's race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and finished in second place behind Kyle Larson. This weekend, teammate Christopher Bell has been confirmed as the car's driver at Darlington Raceway.
Bell is set to compete for the organization's O'Reilly Series team at the track "Too Tough To Tame" for the third year in a row and fourth time in five years. He won the O'Reilly Series race at the track in August 2024.
Beyond this weekend, however, Crews is set to take over for the remainder of the year, and that is the case even though he will not turn 18 before the race at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, March 28. Because Martinsville is only 0.526 miles in length, he is eligible to compete.
He also would have been eligible to compete in the series' following race at Rockingham Speedway on Saturday, April 4, even if had been held earlier, since that track only measures 0.94 miles in length. The same is true for the following race at Bristol Motor Speedway, a 0.533-mile track, on Saturday, April 11.
The next scheduled race at an oval where Crews would not have been eligible to compete at as a 17-year-old is the race at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, April 18.
Crews is expected to be granted a playoff waiver, meaning that he would be eligible for the postseason if he manages to finish the 24-race regular season in the top 12 in the point standings.
While he already faces an uphill battle, with his current 51-point deficit to the cut line set to grow this weekend, he is very much still in contention, with 18 races remaining on the regular season schedule following the Darlington race.
He finished sixth at COTA and 18th at Phoenix.
Tune in to the CW Network at 5:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 21 for the live broadcast of the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 from Darlington Raceway. Begin a free trial of FuboTV today and catch all of the action from the "Lady in Black"!