“Man for real I just ordered a bottle (of) talent off Amazon. Be here tomorrow!! Thank goodness I have Prime.” That was Josh Williams responding to one of his many online critics. Just one example of Williams’ in your face approach. He’s not afraid to bump and cut on track, or off.
Sporting a mullet, wearing loose clothes, no doubt from his years being overweight, and seemingly always looking like he just got out of trouble. Williams has developed a fan base larger than many of his more refined up-and-coming NASCAR brethren. He’s also developed a swarm of haters.
Williams had a poor showing at last week’s NASCAR Xfinity race at COTA, on March 23, mainly caused by an issue with the car. An online troll quickly posted, “waste of a good ride on a mediocre driver.” Williams shot back, “you couldn’t drive a HOT nail up a snowman’s ass if I gave you instructions.” Not the language a potential winner might say to FOX Sports, of course. Fans even told Williams it was probably best not to go online and read the comments. Williams made it clear that’s not how he rolls. “None of these people will say stuff to anyone in public face to face,” he wrote.
Josh Williams has paid his dues. He is not about to let trolls, critics — or anyone — come at him without swiping back. And he loves showcasing his down home image.
The Hard Road to the NASCAR Cup Series
In January 2024, Kaulig Racing announced Josh Williams would drive the No. 16 Chevrolet for them in select NASCAR Cup races, in addition to the No. 11 in NASCAR Xfinity. Expectations at the start of the year were high. Unfortunately, the year has not gone as well as could be hoped. Not for Williams, or for Kauling Racing. The team admitted as much.
But no doubt, Williams will keep pushing. His motto is, “when you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe then you will be successful.”
New Car, New Baby for Josh Williams
In November, 2023, when Kaulig Racing announced that Josh Williams would drive the No. 11 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2024, it seemed the end of a long journey, the start of a new one. NASCAR’s Zach Sturniolo wrote at the time that “Williams has ground through the Xfinity Series for years, running the majority of the tour’s events since 2018 in lesser-funded equipment.” For his part, Williams did not take the opportunity for granted. He told NASCAR that “a lot of times, you don’t see a driver like me get the opportunity to run for a team like that. Super excited about it, though, man. I think we’re gonna have a lot of fun and run up front all year long.”
Unfortunately, Williams and Kaulig Racing have not spent much time this year up front. Williams failed to qualify, by one point, at this year’s Clash at the Coliseum. He found himself part of an 11-car pile-up at Daytona. His best finish this year was placing 14th at Las Vegas. On March 23, his most recent race, at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, an overheating issue forced Williams to end his race early.
It’s not been all bad news for Josh Williams this year. On March 23, just before he left for the race in Austin, Williams announced his wife, Trazia, had given birth to their daughter, Ettalynn.
Williams will need more good news like that if he wants to avoid getting eliminated. He currently sits in 31st place in the NASCAR Xfinity standings.
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