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Josh Williams (racing driver)

Josh L. Williams[1] (born August 3, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 11 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing and part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Kaulig Racing. He also owns Josh Williams Motorsports, which fields cars for development drivers in the ARCA Menards Series, Late Model Stock Cars, Legend Cars and Bandoloero's.[2]

Racing career

Early years

Williams started his racing career in go-kart racing[2] and later raced Fastrucks and Legends cars to advance his early career, eventually earning a berth in the 2009 edition of "Humpy's Heroes", a summer driver development program run by Humpy Wheeler for young drivers.[3]

ARCA Racing Series

Williams' 2013 Kimmel ARCA car at Road America

Williams drove five races in the 2010 ARCA Racing Series in his family car, numbered 02. He recorded the best finish of 15th at Iowa Speedway.[4] Williams caught the attention of those in the racing community with those performances, as he ran three races for Andy Belmont the following year and another three for his family team, which later developed an alliance with Lira Motorsports. Williams recorded two top-tens in Belmont's car and one more in his own car.[5] For 2012, Williams took his Josh Williams Motorsports team full-time, running all but one race while having limited funding. He failed to finish three races and had four top tens with a best finish of seventh.[6]

The 2013 season was a struggle, to begin with for Williams, who remained sponsorless through the first five races of the season despite having two top ten finishes. He then signed a four race deal with Roulo Brothers Racing, making sporadic appearances in their Ford racecars. Running in between races for Roulo with his family team, Williams was signed by Frank Kimmel to drive one of his cars at Road America, starting and parking. Williams drove the next race for GMS Racing, again start and parking at Michigan International Speedway. Williams carried the sponsorship from Allegiant Air for the rest of the year, grabbing his first top-five finish (a second at Chicagoland Speedway). He finished fifth in points while utilizing four teams to get there.[7]

Again hampered by limited funding, Williams scaled back to just over half the schedule in 2014, always running near or in the top ten. He scored another runner-up finish in the season's penultimate race.[8] He raced the full season with the number six in 2015, except for one race with Cunningham Motorsports. He only finished outside of the top ten in five races and finished third in the driver's standings,[9] behind Grant Enfinger and Austin Wayne Self, who passed Williams for second during the final race. 2016 brought new success for Williams, as he won his first two races, at Madison International Speedway[10] and Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.[11] The Madison win came after he blew an engine in the previous contests and considered withdrawing from Madison; his crew pulled an all-nighter during the week to get the engine prepared.[2] He finished fifth in points after an inconsistent season with 11 top tens.[12]

Williams had said that he would have liked to run more ARCA Racing Series races in 2017.[13] His team ran two races at the beginning of the season in a partnership with Lira Motorsports,[14] and Williams himself went behind the wheel for the annual Salem Speedway throwback weekend, running fourth.[15]

Williams returned once again in the 2018 season behind the wheel of the No. 6 Chevrolet at Talladega in a partnership between his own team and Our Motorsports. They finished 5th.

National series

Williams and family made one Camping World Truck Series start in a partnership with T3R2 Racing, falling out at Martinsville Speedway in 2014.[16] He made two Xfinity Series starts as a start and park driver in 2016, one for Jimmy Means Racing and one for King Autosport.[17] He was announced as the driver of King's No. 90 entry for the spring Bristol Motor Speedway Xfinity race on April 21, 2017.[18] Longtime friend Mario Gosselin helped Williams get the ride.[19] Along with the Bristol race, Williams wanted to run about six Truck races for his family team in 2017.[20] The Truck races never came, but Williams garnered six other starts split between King's 90 and 92 cars, mostly starting and parking in the 92 and running full races in the 90. At Daytona in summer, Williams was running just outside the top ten before he was clipped by Daniel Suárez, finishing last.[21] Williams broke the top thirty in all of his full races.[22]

For 2018, Williams took over the majority of the races in the No. 90 and served as crew chief for drivers of the 90 like Donald Theetge and Andy Lally most weekends when he was not in the seat.[23]

Williams' 2019 ride in the No. 36

On January 29, 2019, it was announced that Williams would move over to DGM's No. 36 car for the 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.[24] After gambling on pit strategy, Williams finished a then-career-best sixteenth in the Boyd Gaming 300 in early March.[25] He later improved on that career-best with his first career top-ten, an eighth at Talladega Superspeedway in the spring. The finish helped Williams and DGM bounce back from a sponsor who failed to pay the team in the beginning portions of the year.[26]

Williams returned to DGM in 2020, piloting the team's No. 92 entry. He reeled off two top-ten finishes in the month of October, including a career-best sixth-place finish at Kansas Speedway that came only a day after the death of one of Williams' employees.[2] On October 31, Williams and the team confirmed another full-season effort in 2021.[27] Following the 2021 season, Williams and DGM parted with Williams taking an opportunity that will help him reach racing on Sundays.[28]

Williams moved to the No. 78 in 2022, driving for B. J. McLeod Motorsports.[29]

Williams made his first career NASCAR Cup Series start at the 2022 Food City Dirt Race, and will drive the No. 78 for Live Fast Motorsports.[30]

Williams at Auto Club Speedway in 2023
Williams at Pocono Raceway in 2023

On August 22, 2022, Williams announced that he would be returning to his old No. 92 for DGM.[31] He would drive that car as well as the team's No. 36 car for the rest of 2022. In 2023, Williams returned to the No. 92 car full-time.[32] At Atlanta, he sustained heavy damage on lap 27; when debris from his repaired car caused another caution, NASCAR parked him under a provision in the Damaged Vehicle Policy. In response, Williams stopped his car on the start/finish line and walked back to pit road.[33] On March 21, he was suspended for the COTA race for his actions.[34][35]

Williams' No. 16 car at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 2024
Williams' No. 11 car at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2024.

Williams will drive the No. 11 car for Kaulig Racing in the 2024 season.[36]

Personal life

Williams was born in Florida but moved to the Charlotte area at age 15, taking online classes to get through high school while racing.[2] As a teen, Williams was injured in a head-on four-wheeler collision and spent five days in the ICU.[3] Williams visits children's hospitals to give back to the community in his free time.[37] Williams, with his wife Trazia Rae, owns a company that prepares foreclosed homes for auction, which he works at during the week while racing.[23]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Cup Series

Xfinity Series

Craftsman Truck Series

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

ARCA Racing Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

References

  1. ^ "Team Event Rosters – Texas Motor Speedway – Saturday, October 24, 2020" (PDF). NASCAR. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e Long, Dustin (October 23, 2020). "Friday 5: How a career-best finish was heartbreaking for Josh Williams". NBC Sports. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Anderson, Chris (June 2, 2009). "Growing up fast". Sarasota Herald Tribune. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  4. ^ "Driver Josh Williams 2010 ARCA Racing Series Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  5. ^ "Driver Josh Williams 2011 ARCA Racing Series Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  6. ^ "Driver Josh Williams 2012 ARCA Racing Series Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  7. ^ "Driver Josh Williams 2013 ARCA Racing Series Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  8. ^ "Driver Josh Williams 2014 ARCA Racing Series Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  9. ^ "Driver Josh Williams 2015 ARCA Racing Series Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  10. ^ "Josh Williams Wins ARCA Race At Madison". Beyond the Flag. June 20, 2016. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  11. ^ "Josh Williams wins ARCA race in Nashville". Auto Racing. April 9, 2016. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  12. ^ "Driver Josh Williams 2016 ARCA Racing Series Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  13. ^ Winningham, Brett. "ARCA: Josh Williams Talks Season, Biggest Influence, and Expectations for 2017". Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  14. ^ "2017 #6 Josh Williams Motorsports - ARCA Racing Paint Schemes". www.thepitlane.org. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  15. ^ "Driver Josh Williams 2017 ARCA Racing Series Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  16. ^ "Driver Josh Williams 2014 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  17. ^ "Driver Josh Williams 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  18. ^ "Josh Williams grateful for Bristol XFINITY Series debut with King Autosport". Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  19. ^ Wilson, Steven B. "Josh Williams grateful for Bristol XFINITY Series debut with King Autosport". Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  20. ^ "Josh Williams Steers Blue Collar Team to ARCA Championship Mix, NASCAR Future". Motorsports Tribune. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  21. ^ "XFINITY: Crash puts brakes on strong run for Josh Williams and Gosselin team at Daytona". brock.lastcar.info. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  22. ^ "Driver Josh Williams 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  23. ^ a b Gluck, Jeff. "How I Got Here with Josh Williams". player.fm. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
  24. ^ Seelman, Jacob. "Josh Williams Returning To DGM Racing In Xfinity". Speed Sport. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  25. ^ Seelman, Jacob (March 4, 2019). "Josh Williams Has Career Day Again in Las Vegas". Speed Sport. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  26. ^ Seelman, Jacob (April 28, 2019). "Josh Williams Soaks In Career-Best Xfinity Result". Speed Sport. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  27. ^ Segal, Davey (October 31, 2020). "Josh Williams Returning to DGM Racing in 2021". Frontstretch. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  28. ^ "Josh Williams Not Returning to DGM Racing in 2022". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. November 15, 2021. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
  29. ^ Estrada, Chris (December 8, 2021). "Xfinity: Josh Williams joins BJ McLeod Motorsports in multi-year deal". NBC Sports. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  30. ^ Srigley, Joseph (April 12, 2022). "Josh Williams Making Cup Series Debut with Live Fast Motorsports at Bristol". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  31. ^ "Josh Williams Returning to DGM Racing at Daytona". Jayski.com. August 22, 2022. Retrieved August 22, 2022.
  32. ^ Srigley, Joseph (December 21, 2022). "Josh Williams Returning to DGM Racing for Full-Season Run in No. 92". TobyChristie.com.
  33. ^ Spencer, Reid (March 18, 2023). "Austin Hill fends off Kligerman, Hemric for Xfinity win at Atlanta". NASCAR. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  34. ^ Hembree, Mike (March 22, 2023). "Josh Williams suspended for one race after Atlanta infraction". NBC Sports. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
  35. ^ "Atlanta penalty report: Xfinity Series driver Josh Williams suspended one race". NASCAR. March 21, 2023. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
  36. ^ "Josh Williams running full Xfinity schedule for Kaulig Racing in 2024". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. November 16, 2023. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  37. ^ "This Homecoming Like None Other For Josh Williams And Team". shorttracks.us. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  38. ^ "Josh Williams – 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  39. ^ "Josh Williams – 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  40. ^ "Josh Williams – 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  41. ^ "Josh Williams – 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  42. ^ "Josh Williams – 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  43. ^ "Josh Williams – 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  44. ^ "Josh Williams – 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  45. ^ "Josh Williams – 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  46. ^ "Josh Williams – 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
  47. ^ "Josh Williams – 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  48. ^ "Josh Williams – 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
  49. ^ "Josh Williams – 2014 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  50. ^ "Josh Williams – 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  51. ^ "Josh Williams – 2010 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  52. ^ "Josh Williams – 2011 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  53. ^ "Josh Williams – 2012 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  54. ^ "Josh Williams – 2013 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  55. ^ "Josh Williams – 2014 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  56. ^ "Josh Williams – 2015 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  57. ^ "Josh Williams – 2016 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  58. ^ "Josh Williams – 2017 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  59. ^ "Josh Williams – 2018 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 18, 2019.

External links