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William Sawalich Joining JGR ARCA Program

William Sawalich will compete for Joe Gibbs Racing’s ARCA Menards Series program in 2023, JGR announced Dec. 9.

The 16-year-old Sawalich will make his debut in the ARCA and ARCA Menards Series West combination race at Phoenix Raceway in the No. 18.

He will also contest the full ARCA Menards Series East schedule for the team, following in the footsteps of his predecessor, Sammy Smith, who drove for JGR in 2021 and with Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2022.

See also
2022 ARCA Awards: Champion Nick Sanchez 1 of Several Graduates to NASCAR

According to the ARCA website, Sawalich’s schedule will comprise 20 races in all.

His race-by-race schedule was not revealed, but Sawalich cannot compete on larger tracks that require the driver to be at least 18 years old.

JGR did not specify if it intends to field the No. 18 full time in the main ARCA series in 2023, utilizing other drivers in place of Sawalich on larger tracks such as Daytona International Speedway.

 

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Kevin Rutherford is the executive editor of Frontstretch, a position he gained in 2025 after being the managing editor since 2015, and serving on the editing staff since 2013.

At his day job, he's a journalist covering music and rock charts at Billboard. He lives in New York City, but his heart is in Ohio -- you know, like that Hawthorne Heights song.