Because he experienced concussion-like symptoms during the week following his big crash at Talladega Superspeedway, Joe Gibbs Racing rookie William Sawalich was forced to miss Saturday night's Xfinity Series playoff race at Martinsville Speedway. It marked his first missed start of the 2025 season.
Justin Bonsignore, who was supposed to be done for the season after Aric Almirola was given several of his planned starts behind the wheel of the organization's No. 19 "star car" Toyota, filled in for the 19-year-old Eden Prairie, Minnesota native behind the wheel of the No. 18 Toyota and recorded a career-high 10th place finish.
Sawalich has not yet been cleared for the season finale at Phoenix Raceway this coming Saturday, but he has not yet been ruled out either.
William Sawalich misses Martinsville race
Almirola is already set to drive the No. 19 car at Phoenix as he attempts to win an owner championship for the team, meaning that Bonsignore likely remains the go-to replacement if Sawalich isn't healthy enough to compete.
Though the two-time ARCA Menards Series East champion missed the playoffs in his first full Xfinity Series season, his form had clearly been improving as of late.
He closed out the regular season with seven top 12 finishes, including back-to-back runner-up results and a third place effort, in eight races, after recording only three top 12 finishes in the season's first 18 events.
Prior to his Talladega DNF, he had not finished worse than 15th since the August race at Watkins Glen International, when he was also collected in an accident. Aside from DNFs, he hasn't actually finished a race outside of the top 15 since the June race at Pocono Raceway. The progression is promising, considering he recorded four straight finishes of 24th or worse earlier in the year,
The NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race is set to be shown live on the CW Network from Phoenix Raceway beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, November 1. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss any of the action!