William Sawalich will not be competing in this weekend’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, November 1.
The news comes as Sawalich, the reigning two-time ARCA Menards Series East champion from Eden Prairie, Minnesota. He continues to recover from concussion-like symptoms that he sustained from a multi-car accident at Talladega Superspeedway on October 18.
The symptoms forced Sawalich, who was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation, to miss this past weekend’s Xfinity event at Martinsville Speedway. Justin Bonsignore piloted Sawalich’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) Toyota Supra entry.
Bonsignore, a four-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion from Holtsville, New York, will pilot JGR’s No. 18 entry for a second consecutive event at Phoenix to cap off the 2025 season. Bonsignore has made eight starts with JGR throughout the 2025 campaign, with his best result being a 10th-place finish during last weekend’s event at Martinsville while filling in for Sawalich.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t get medically cleared to compete this weekend in Phoenix,” Sawalich said. “As a driver, you want to be behind the wheel for your team, but I understand the importance of being fully ready before returning.
“As I continue to work toward getting back to 100%, I want to express my sincere appreciation to Dr. Collins and his UPMC staff. I also want to thank [crew chief] Jeff Meendering, the No. 18 team and everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing for their unwavering support this season. We will be prepared and ready to go when the season begins in Daytona this February.”
After winning his second consecutive ARCA East title in 2024, Sawalich was promoted as a full-time Xfinity competitor with JGR this season. Previously, the Minnesota native had made his first three Xfinity career starts with JGR throughout the 2024 season and claimed his first career pole during the season-finale event at Phoenix.
Through 31 events in 2025, Sawalich, who is ranked in 17th place in the driver’s standings and did not make the Playoffs, notched a pole position at Nashville Superspeedway in June. He also has three top-five results, nine top-10 results, 51 laps led and an average-finishing result of 18.9. His best on-track results were a pair of runner-up results in back-to-back events at Portland International Raceway and at World Wide Technology Raceway between late August and early September.
The 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season is scheduled to conclude this upcoming weekend at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, November 1, at 7:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network, MRN and SiriusXM.
