William Sawalich’s schedule will look a bit different when NASCAR heads to Homestead-Miami Speedway for its season finale. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver will not return to the Craftsman Truck Series for Friday night’s race, leaving TRICON Garage’s No. 5 Toyota to Spencer Davis while Sawalich shifts his attention to his O’Reilly Auto Parts Series commitments.

The move is a scheduling decision, not a sign of a split between Sawalich and TRICON. His most recent Truck Series appearance came at Martinsville, where he brought the No. 5 home ninth. That result closed out an eight-race Truck Series slate for him in 2026, and it gave the young driver another top-10 finish before he turns his attention to the final O’Reilly race of the year.

Sawalich’s part-time Truck campaign produced five top-10 finishes from those eight starts. His strongest result was sixth at Phoenix, matching the best finish of his Truck Series career, which dates to 2023. He also finished seventh at Bristol. The numbers show a useful return from a schedule that took him to the track with more than one Toyota organization: seven starts came with TRICON Garage, while one came with Halmar Friesen Racing.

His run with TRICON spanned the team’s entries. Six of his starts came in the No. 5 Toyota, with another in the No. 1. He also drove the No. 62 Toyota for Halmar Friesen Racing. That variety made his Truck Series season more than a simple extension of his work in the O’Reilly Series, where he drives the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Now, the Homestead weekend gives Sawalich a different objective. He enters the O’Reilly finale 24 points behind teammate Brent Crews in the battle to finish as the highest-ranked driver outside the playoff field. The margin is narrow enough to keep the target in view, but the result will have to come in the series where Sawalich has spent most of his season.

The No. 5 seat now goes to Spencer Davis. He last started for the organization at Michigan in June, where he finished 24th. That was also his first Truck Series appearance since the 2023 finale at Phoenix, so Homestead gives him another opportunity to get back into the rhythm of the series. Davis has three previous Truck Series starts at Homestead.

His record there includes a 13th-place finish, a DNF, and a failure to qualify. His best career result remains seventh, earned in his 2018 series debut with Kyle Busch Motorsports at Daytona. He later added a ninth at Texas that year and an eighth at Kentucky in 2019. The change leaves two separate storylines for the final weekend.

Davis gets the chance to deliver a run for TRICON in the No. 5, while Sawalich heads to Homestead with points on the line in his primary series. A 24-point gap is not insurmountable, but it leaves little room for a quiet finish. Sawalich’s Truck Series season is complete; his 2026 campaign, however, still has one more result to shape.

Original article