NASCAR Xfinity Series Rookie Out for Martinsville after Talladega Crash

What’s Happening?

NASCAR Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year contender William Sawalich will miss this weekend’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff Race at Martinsville Speedway as he is dealing with “concussion-like symptoms” following a hard crash last weekend at Talladega.

• The 19-year-old was running in 17th on lap 45 of last Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Talladega when a tap to the rear bumper of Leland Honeyman led to Connor Mosack shooting back up track towards the outside wall, collecting Sawalich.
• For that, the JGR driver was taken to the infield care center and subsequently to a UAB Hospital for further evaluation, being released early Sunday morning. From there, Sawalich posted on X, “feeling better and thankful for all the support,” and was entered into this weekend’s race before today’s announcement.
• Four-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Champion Justin Bonsignore will replace Sawalich in this weekend’s race at Martinsville. The 37-year-old has made nine starts in JGR’s part-time No. 19 car this year, finishing no higher than 12th at Iowa, though he does have a Modified Tour win at Martinsville last October.
• For Sawalich, this puts a damper on a potential 2025 turnaround season in which the young driver started slowly but found a groove late in the season. Through the first 17 races of the season, Sawalich had a 23.8 average finish, but in the latter half of the season, he has dropped that to 13.1 through the last 15 races.

Update 5:26 PM: A statement from Sawalich on the matter.

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