Sawalich, Brandon Jones sweep top-two positions for Joe Gibbs Racing
ROCKINGHAM, NC (April 4, 2026) – William Sawalich scored his first career NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series win at Rockingham Speedway on Saturday evening. Sawalich earned stage points in the first two stages, before a dominate performance in the final stage – leading 80 (of 250) laps. He drove away from his teammate Brandon Jones on the final restart, and went unchallenged to the checkered flag, which Jones finishing in second. Sawalich and Jones gave Joe Gibbs Racing their first 1-2 sweep of the season, and for Jones, it is his second runner-up finish in the last three races this season (Darlington).
Sawalich and Jones are now Dash 4 Cash eligible at Bristol Motor Speedway. They will compete against Justin Allgaier and Rajah Caruth for 100k next Saturday.
For Toyota, it was the second 1-2 sweep in as many days, after TRICON Garage teammates Corey Heim and Kaden Honeycutt took the top-two spots in the Truck Series race from Rockingham Speedway on Friday.
TOYOTA RACING Post-Race Recap
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (NOAPS)
Rockingham Speedway
Race 8 of 33 – 230 miles, 250 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, WILLIAM SAWALICH
2nd, BRANDON JONES
3rd, Justin Allgaier*
4th, Rajah Caruth*
5th, Carson Kvapil*
7th, TAYLOR GRAY
13th, HARRISON BURTON
26th, BRENT CREWS
28th, DEAN THOMPSON
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
WILLIAM SAWALICH, No. 18 SoundGear Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
How rewarding is this moment after all of the trials and tribulations you went through?
“It means everything. Honestly, tough year last year and tough start to the year this year. These boys mean everything to me. They were here with me through everything and my family. Gosh, it feels good to get it done here in Rockingham, in front of an awesome crowd. Thank you to everyone for coming out. Our SoundGear GR Supra was on rails today. Good in stage one and stage two, and obviously amazing in clean air.”
What were you trying to remind yourself as you went through the lap traffic?
“Well, funny enough, lap traffic took me out last year, so it was running through my head a little bit. I just studied the race last year and just calmed down and everything was fine.”
BRANDON JONES, No. 20 Menards/Pelonis Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
How would you describe the race you put together?
“What a hard fought battle today. I want to thank Menards and Pelonis for being our GR Supra today. It has been cool to get them a couple of really good runs here the last few weeks. I left Martinsville a little frustrated at myself last week. We weren’t quite aggressive enough at times, so today, I was super adamant on being super aggressive. I am going to take all of the runs I can get. I’m going to put people in bad situations, if I can, and just move forward. I think we did a really good job of it. We kept fighting both sides of it with balance today. Sam (McAuley, crew chief) did a great job taking all of my feedback and making a car, I think, capable of winning. It was just a matter of trying to get some track position, and he got such a big restart on that last restart that it was hard to catch him. Congrats to them. I know it has been a long time coming for the 18 group. Happy for Jeff Meendering (crew chief, William Sawalich) and William (Sawalich) and all of those guys. I’m hungry. I want one. We are really close.”
TAYLOR GRAY, No. 54 Operation 300 Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 7th
How was it working back through the field all day?
“It was tough. Track position was pretty huge today. Just tough to pass, but really proud of everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing, TOYOTA RACING – thanks to them for bringing a really fast Operation 300 Toyota GR Supra. Big thanks to Black’s Tire for coming on board this weekend. Good points weekend for the 54 team. We’ve struggled the last few weeks just being able to finish races, so good step forward here and we will go to Bristol.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for nearly 70 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs nearly 64,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 49 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants. In spring 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 31 electrified options.
For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.
