17 Year Old ARCA Champ William Sawalich Pens His Excitement for Making His Xfinity Series Debut

Amidst the brewing silly season in NASCAR, Toyota’s top team, Joe Gibbs Racing has upped the ante unveiling its drivers for its upcoming 2024 Xfinity Series campaign. The team has made it official that it will field a fourth car in its chase for the championship, getting ARCA Menards sensation William Sawalich for a ride.

The ARCA Menards East champion signed a multi-year agreement with JGR including an Xfinity Series trial, making his debut in the #19 car. The 17-year-old couldn’t contain his excitement as he took to social media to pen down his excitement to be part of the Toyota camp, that arranged his debut in NASCAR’s second-tier promotion.

William Sawalich shares his delight to make his Xfinity Series debut with JGR

Despite getting three of its drivers into the playoffs of the Cup Series battle in 2023, proud Toyota-associated team JGR could not take home the title. While misfortune and inconsistency got the team’s dreams shattered, it seemed to have learned a valuable lesson from its 2023 campaign whether it be from the Cup or the Xfinity Series.

In a massive power play, the team has announced its decision to field a fourth team in NASCAR’s second-tier division, giving young talents like Sawalich a shot at the big leagues. The youngster is also poised to be JGR’s primary driver in ARCA for the 2024 season.

Alongside the 17-year-old, Martin Truex Jr‘s younger brother Ryan Truex, Joe Graf Jr, and Taylor Gray will take up the part-time responsibility of piloting the #19 JGR Supra across the finish line. Ecstatic and thrilled about his new opportunity, Sawalich took to his Instagram, sharing a brief note to express his gratitude.

He wrote, “Excited for another year with the JGR ARCA team. We have a lot of goals for the next year that we are trying to accomplish. Pumped to be making my Xfinity debut next fall too!”

WATCH THIS STORY: Ty Gibbs: A reluctant rising star? 

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JGR ropes in Aric Almirola after Joe Gibbs’ masterstroke stuns SHR

Except for Cole Custer’s triumph at Phoenix, clinching his and Stewart-Haas Racing‘s first-ever Xfinity title, the Ford camp hasn’t been able to do anything significant. Especially, in the organization’s top faction, the Cup Series. In fact, the team couldn’t even bid a fitting farewell to its champion, Kevin Harvick.

To add insult to injury, Harvick’s long-time sponsor, Anheuser Busch decided to part ways with the team and join the Chevy camp at Trackhouse Racing. Things went even further down the drain when JGR announced that Tony Stewart‘s #10 Cup Series driver, Aric Almirola will join them in 2024 for a part-time responsibility in the #20 Supra as part of its Xfinity Series squadron.

READ MORE: Tony Stewart’s Cup Series Woes Reach Another Low as SHR Loses Another Sponsor to Ford Rivals

Though Stewart managed to get Josh Berry and Noah Gragson on board as replacements for Harvick and Almirola, the absence of 2 top veterans is certain to leave a dent in the team.