Joe Gibbs Racing flexed its muscle in the first on-track session of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, with teammates Taylor Gray and William Sawalich leading a strong Toyota contingent in practice at Daytona International Speedway.

Gray, piloting the No. 54 Operation 300 Toyota, posted the fastest lap of the session at 48.386 seconds (186.004 mph), just edging his teammate Sawalich by a mere two-thousandths of a second. The practice session marked an impressive debut for Gray, who showcased the continued strength of the JGR program in superspeedway racing.

“To come out of the gate this strong really speaks to all the hard work everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing has put in over the off-season,” said Gray after practice. “Having William right there with us shows the strength of our Toyota package.”

JR Motorsports showed they’ll be a force to contend with as well, as Sammy Smith placed third in the No. 8 TMC Transportation Chevrolet, just 0.012 seconds off the pace. Sheldon Creed, in his debut with Haas Factory Racing, rounded out the top four with a lap of 48.429 seconds.

The session highlighted the emergence of several new team and driver combinations for 2025. Carson Kvapil impressed in his first outing with JR Motorsports, placing fifth overall with a speed of 184.991 mph in the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet. Justin Bonsignore and Dean Thompson also showed promise, placing sixth and seventh respectively.

The practice saw a clear dividing line in the field, with the top eight cars separated by just 0.272 seconds, before a notable gap to ninth-place Matt DiBenedetto in his Viking Motorsports entry. Jordan Anderson rounded out the top 10 in his self-owned No. 32 Volpi Foods Chevrolet.

The session was relatively clean, with teams primarily focusing on single-car runs and occasional drafting practice. Several teams, including those of Austin Hill and Justin Allgaier, appeared to focus more on race trim, completing fewer laps but gathering valuable data for the upcoming race.

Notable challenges faced some teams, with Parker Retzlaff completing just one lap in his Alpha Prime Racing entry, while several others, including Kris Wright and Ryan Truex, logged fewer than five laps during the session.

The practice results suggest a potentially competitive season opener, with multiple teams showing the speed necessary to contend for victory. The close times among the top runners, particularly within the Joe Gibbs Racing camp, hint at what could be an exciting battle for the pole position in qualifying.

The 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season opener at Daytona will mark the beginning of a new chapter for several drivers and teams, with the practice session providing the first glimpse of the competitive landscape for the year ahead. With just fractions of a second separating the front-runners, the stage is set for what promises to be an intense battle for victory in the season’s first race.