GRAY REBOUNDS FROM EARLY RACE SPIN TO TOP-FIVE
Crews, Thompson and Jones recover from damage to finish top-15
MADISON, Ill. (September 12, 2026) – Taylor Gray bounced back from an early race spin to drive through the field and lead Toyota with a fourth-place finish in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. It is Gray’s second straight top-10 finish to open the Chase.
Brent Crews (seventh), Dean Thompson (12th) and Brandon Jones (15th) all recovered for top-15 finishes after being involved in a massive pit road incident early in the race.
TOYOTA RACING Post-Race Recap
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (NOAPS)
World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway
Race 26 of 33 – 225 miles, 180 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Jesse Love*
2nd, Sheldon Creed*
3rd, Sam Mayer *
4th, TAYLOR GRAY
5th, Carson Kvapil*
7th, BRENT CREWS
12th, DEAN THOMPSON
15th, BRANDON JONES
16th, WILLIAM SAWALICH
37th, HARRISON BURTON
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
TAYLOR GRAY, No. 54 Operation 300 Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
Bounced back from a spin early to finish top-five. Can you take us through your night?
“Yeah, first off, really proud of our whole Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 group. They did an awesome job executing all night. Especially with the position I put us in early in the race; really honestly put us in a bad spot. It hindered us a lot and put us in a point where we weren’t going to get stage points all day. They did a great job fighting back and giving me a race car I could drive to the front there at the end. Really thankful to everyone at TOYOTA RACING, M-Experiment.”
WILLIAM SAWALICH, No. 18 SoundGear Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 16th
How would you describe how the events unfolded?
“Yeah, our SoundGear GR Supra was pretty good tonight. Good run through stage one and two, and obviously our stage three was a little behind because of damage.”
Are you worried about any repercussions?
“I’m just worried about next week and Bristol and what I have to do with my team.”
HARRISON BURTON, No. 24 Dead On Tools Toyota GR Supra, Sam Hunt Racing
Finishing Position: 37th
What happened out there?
“I’m not sure what happened. The 51 (Jeremy Clements) was right in front of me, and I was just running my lights, and he ran into the guy in front of him, who ran into the guy in front of him and it looks like I got the worst of it. We knocked the radiator out of mine, just a horrible way to end the day. Just cruising down pit road – we were going to make a big change. We were really tight. We had a good qualifying effort and thought we would fire off better but too tight for our Dead On Tools Supra, and fell off the wagon. You get behind people and track position and that is what happens.”
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