GRAY CONTINUES PERFORMANCE SURGE, FINISHES THIRD IN INDY
Toyota’s three rookies shine with top-10 finishes
INDIANAPOLIS (July 26, 2025) – Taylor Gray led Team Toyota with a third-place finish in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon. It is the third consecutive top-10 run for Gray, and sixth top-10 in the last seven races.
Toyota’s rookie drivers – Gray, William Sawalich and Dean Thompson – all delivered top-10 finishes. Sawalich, who finished sixth, scored his third consecutive top-10 finish, while Thompson (10th) continued his consistent performance with his seventh straight top-20 run.
Toyota GAZOO Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Race 21 of 33 – 250 miles, 100 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Connor Zilisch*
2nd, Sam Mayer*
3rd, TAYLOR GRAY
4th, Kyle Larson*
5th, Ryan Sieg*
6th, WILLIAM SAWALICH
10th, DEAN THOMPSON
32nd, BRANDON JONES
35th, ARIC ALMIROLA
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
TAYLOR GRAY, No. 54 Operation 300 Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
Was there any more you could have done there?
“Just got too tight in clean air. That long red flag – before the red flag I was a little free, and then with the long red flag letting the tires heat soak, it just got me too tight, especially when I got clean air, I was tighter all day than when I was in traffic. Just struggled – he was better in me in (turns) one and two. We were comparable to maybe a little better in (turns) three and four. But I can’t thank everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing enough for bringing a fast Operation 300 Toyota GR Supra – just got to keep clicking off the good finishes here.”
WILLIAM SAWALICH, No. 18 Starkey Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
Can you tell us about running in the top-10 at Indy?
“Having three top -10 finishes in a row is really building great momentum for our team. I’m excited for the direction we are trending. Hopefully we can keep this up and consistent top-10s turn into consistent top-fives for our No. 18 Starkey Toyota team.”
DEAN THOMPSON, No. 26 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota GR Supra, Sam Hunt Racing
Finishing Position: 10th
Can you tell us about running in the top-10 at Indy?
“It was a frustrating day. In practice, I thought we were pretty strong, and in qualifying we were pretty good, but in race trim, we were just working on the long run. We were badass on the short runs, but not good on the long run. I think we were a 16th-place car, but those restarts really helped me because we were really good on the short run. I think finished off better than we should have, so got to thank Thompson Pip Group, Sam (Hunt, team owner), Sam Hunt Racing, Toyota for giving me a fast Supra and believing in me all day.”
ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 19 Young Life Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 35th
What exactly happened?
“I had a fast race car. Our Young Life Toyota GR Supra was so fast today. We missed the balance to start the race, and we worked on it. We had an unfortunate mishap on pit road and lost some spots and came out 13th, but we were making a lot of progress going forward and thought we still had a chance to win. That’s what I’m most proud of and what I want to focus on – the positives. We had such a great night, last night, with a bunch of Young Life folks – talked a lot about J.D. Gibbs, told a lot of stories about him. I really felt like we were going to have an opportunity to kiss the bricks today, and pay all of the glory to Jesus Christ, and honor J.D. Gibbs and it just didn’t end up that way.”
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.
