HUNTERSVILLE, NC (January 8, 2025) – Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) announced today their 2025 ARCA Menards Series (AMS) driver lineup. The team will continue to field the No. 18 Toyota Camry across the ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East (AMSE), and select ARCA Menards Series West (AMSW) races, which will be shared by drivers Max Reaves, Brent Crews, William Sawalich, and Giovanni Ruggiero.
“There is a lot of talent and youth in this group that we’re looking forward to developing throughout the year.” Said Steve DeSouza, Executive Vice President of NASCAR Xfinity Series and Development at JGR. “Each of these young men has a promising future and I’m quite proud that we were able to get them all together under the JGR banner. We’re looking forward to continuing the winning legacy of our ARCA Menards Series program with these guys in 2025.”
Reaves leads the group with 10 races on his 2025 schedule. The 15-year-old joins the ARCA schedule as the youngest driver of the group but is no stranger to Joe Gibbs Racing. The Trinity, NC native joined Joe Gibbs Racing as a development driver last year and has made multiple late model starts under the JGR banner throughout the past year. At just 15 years old, Reaves has won numerous accolades including the 2024 Carolina Pro Champion Late Model Championship, multiple quarter midget championships, an INEX Florida Winter Nationals National Qualifier Race Championship, and most recently was crowned the 2025 Redeye winner at New Smyrna Speedway, thus solidifying himself as a rising star in the oval racing scene. Reaves will run his ten races across the AMS and AMSE schedules this season with fast-food chain Cook Out serving as the primary sponsor.
Crews joins JGR with nine scheduled races in the upcoming season. The 16-year-old arrives at JGR with a rapidly growing list of accomplishments including three CARS Late Model Tour victories, multiple dirt midget victories, and holds the records for both the youngest champion and race winner in the Trans-Am TA2 ProAM series at just 14 years old. Crews has already scored two AMS victories with wins at the Illinois and DuQuoin State Fairgrounds respectively. Most recently, Crews scored a coveted Golden Driller win in the Tulsa Shootout Non-Wing A-Feature to add to an already impressive resume. The Denver, North Carolina native will make his JGR debut in Phoenix and will continue to run select races throughout the year with support from JBL and Mobil 1.
Sawalich returns as the veteran of the group following his second consecutive ARCA Menards Series East title in his second full-time season in 2024. In the past two years, the 18-year-old has tallied 18 AMS wins across ARCA platforms. His seven-race AMS schedule comes in conjunction with his upcoming rookie campaign in the NASCAR Xfinity Series where he will be running a full season in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota GR Supra. Sawalich will have Starkey as the primary partner on his Toyota Camry.
Ruggiero completes the driver lineup with two races on the 2025 schedule and enters Joe Gibbs Racing having already established himself across all three ARCA platforms. Last year, the 18-year-old from Seekonk, Massachusetts scored seven top-fives, nine top-10s, and one pole in AMS competition, while also running full-time in the AMSE championship, where he took home his first career win in Pensacola en route to earning a third-place finish in the end-of-year standings. Ruggiero’s partners are set to be announced at a later date.
Crew chief Matt Ross will remain at the helm of the No. 18 Toyota Camry team for all four drivers throughout the season in hopes of following up his 2024 AMS Owner’s Championship and 2024 AMSE Championship campaigns.
All drivers will run the No. 18 Toyota Camry with the exception of Rockingham, where Sawalich will run the No. 18 Starkey and Crews will pilot the No. 81 Mobil 1 Toyota Camrys, respectively. The crew chief for the No. 81 will be released at a later date.
Tune into FOX for the Daytona 200 on February 15th, 2025, at 12:00 PM ET to see William Sawalich kick off the 2025 Joe Gibbs Racing ARCA Menards Series campaign.
-JGR
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