Things aren’t all sunny for Joe Gibbs Racing after two of their drivers had contact during the Cuervo 300 at Chicagoland Speedway. 

After the race, William Sawalich marched angrily towards Brent Crews, who immediately apologized to Sawalich after he got into his left rear on lap 166. The crew stepped in to cool off the situation, and Brent Crews took full responsibility for taking his teammate out. 

In that moment, Sawalich in the 18 JGR Toyota was running 5th, but having checked up and gotten off the throttle before the contact, he slid to the back of the pack quickly, finishing in a low 29th while Crews in the 19 JGR Toyota finished 4th. 

Crews spoke to the media after the race, with Frontstretch posting the video of the interaction on X. Crews said, “I’ve raced William for a really long time and obviously hate that that happened. I take full accountability. “

Crews explained how the incident played out and said that he was unhappy that it affected not just another driver but his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate.

“Just got it on his left rear and was trying to get him loose and got him really loose. He was checking up to try to not hit the wall, and I just didn’t check up as fast as he was. So, just misjudged it on my part. Hate it for the whole group.”

Crews spoke about Sawalich approaching him and said that the teammates had squared up the best they could. JGR’s entire NOAPS crew will hope that this is a one-off incident that won’t affect any of their drivers going into the Chase with 7 races to go.

JGR teammates battle it out for last Chase slot

By the looks of things, Brent Crews is the hottest contender to take over the JGR 11 seat in the Cup series after Hamlin retires at the end of 2027. Hamlin had himself put Crews’ name at the forefront at a media interaction after one of his race wins when asked if he would retire or stay on. 

Crews, at just 18, made his NOAPS debut this season and is currently 12th, the cut-off position for the Chase as things stand. 

Incredibly, in 13th, just out of the Chase position, 44 points behind Crews is his teammate William Sawalich. Crews picked up 34 points by finishing 4th in Chigacoland while Sawalich ended in 29th with just 11 points. So at least 23 of the points that Crews leads Sawalich by come from their racing incident. 

Crews was asked by the media post-race how he felt about picking up momentum with the Chase now just 7 races away. The 19 JGR driver replied, “It’s definitely a big momentum builder.”

With just 7 to go to the Chase, although JGR will hope it goes off without contact between their drivers, a position in the Chase could be valuable for both drivers who would be fighting to get a full-time Cup ride with the premier Toyota side. 

Do you think Sawalich will give it back to Crews in a later race? Let us know.

You can read more on the Daytona Racing Digest!

Written by

Debrup Chaudhuri

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason