TWO TOYOTA TOP-10s AT CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS
Taylor Gray, William Sawalich Score Top-10s in First Road Course Race of Season
AUSTIN (March 1, 2025) – Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Taylor Gray (seventh) and William Sawalich (ninth) earned top 10 finishes in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Circuit of the Americas (COTA).
Corey Heim ran among the top five during the first two stages of the race before contact with a fellow competitor sent his Sam Hunt Racing No. 24 Toyota GR Supra spinning, and he went on to finish 31st in Saturday’s 156-mile Xfinity Series race.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Circuit of the Americas
Race 3 of 33 – 156 miles, 65 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Connor Zilisch*
2nd, William Byron*
3rd, Sam Mayer*
4th, Austin Hill*
5th, Christian Eckes*
7th, TAYLOR GRAY
9th, WILLIAM SAWALICH
13th, RILEY HERBST
18th, DEAN THOMPSON
30th, BRANDON JONES
31st, COREY HEIM
34th, SAGE KARAM
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
TAYLOR GRAY, No. 54 Operation 300 Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 7th
“I feel like we really struggled the first three quarters of the race just being really tight everywhere and just kept working all day. I can’t thank my Joe Gibbs Racing guys enough. They kept working on the Operation 300 Toyota GR Supra all day and we never gave up. I feel like we got the car okay there at the end and unfortunately, we got in a little bit of a tight fuel spot and started having to save quite a bit of fuel and gave up quite a bit of track position there. And, then whenever I’d go to take back off, I just didn’t really have any rear grip to support me in going fast. Again, I can’t thank my Joe Gibbs Racing guys enough. Just gotta regroup and refocus toward Phoenix and get after it.”
WILLIAM SAWALICH, No. 18 Starkey Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 9th
How was your race today?
“It was pretty good. We had a good Starkey GR Supra today. It was as fast as Xfinity Mobile so I really can’t thank the JGR guys enough on the No. 18 team. We had four total tires fall apart during the first and second stage so that set us back a little bit, but we regained our ground through a little bit of strategy, and they put me in position to get a good top-10 and a solid finish at the end.”
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