CONCORD, N.C. – After an uncharacteristic DNQ last weekend at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, Josh Williams is heading to Charlotte Motor Speedway, ready to rebound in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Williams, a veteran of 104 Xfinity Series starts since his debut in 2016, is eager to put the sting of his recent road-course miss behind him with a strong result at one of his better race tracks.
The Port Charlotte, Fla., native earned a track-best 14th-place finish at Charlotte last season, during the Xfinity Series’ return to racing from the COVID-19 pandemic, and qualified better there in 2020 than he ever had in three starts at the 1.5-mile quad-oval as well.
Saturday’s Alsco 300 will mark Williams’ fourth appearance on the Charlotte oval, and team owner Mario Gosselin hopes it ends with a much-needed first top-10 finish of the season for Williams and the No. 92 DGM Racing team.
“We’ve got our heads down, working hard to get things turned around after this setback,” said Gosselin. “We have full faith in our team and Josh’s ability to get us back on track.”
Considering that Williams posted a career-best season last year, with six top-10 finishes, a career-best performance of sixth at Kansas Speedway in October, and a 15th-place ranking in driver points, he and the team believed this year’s Xfinity Series campaign would see them fighting for a spot in the playoffs.
Through a myriad of bad luck, circumstances, and tough breaks on-track, that hasn’t happened so far, but Williams and company are treating the remainder of the season as a blank slate: fresh and ready for a new chapter to be written.
“Coming off of the 2020 season, we had made some strong gains that we were hoping were going to carry over into 2021, and being in the position we are now is certainly not where I want to be, and I know it’s not where Mario and DGM want to be,” said Williams. “Nothing in this sport has ever been handed to me, and I don’t expect that to change anytime soon. All I can do is work harder than the rest, be the best leader I can be, and outwork everyone else.
“Nothing worth having comes easy, and a new season for us begins this weekend in Charlotte.”
Despite the rough times currently, Williams still finds himself in a position of strength thanks to the support of multiple longtime partners, including anchor partners Alloy Employer Services, Star Tron, and Sleep Well Inc.
All three brands have been behind Williams for much of his Xfinity Series journey and look forward to extending that support through the “rebound chapter” of Williams’ story.
“There are no sure things in racing and the high level of performance necessary to compete in the Xfinity Series is what makes us all fans. Despite last week’s miss, we are confident that the enormous heart and pure talent behind the wheel that Josh William brings to the track every Saturday will pay off sooner rather than later,” said Chris Estey, the Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Alloy. “We support Josh now and into the future.”
“We have been with Josh since the beginning of his venture into Xfinity Series racing, and his consistency and how he out-performs where everyone feels he should be is why our brands are proud to support Josh and continue to support him,” added Gregor Dornau, the Executive Vice President of Star Tron and Star Brite. “A few unfortunate incidents do not represent the body of work Josh has shown out on the track, and especially off the track, for the last five years.”
“This season has definitely been tough, coming off Josh’s momentum from 2020, but that’s part of racing,” noted Noah Sargent, President of Sleep Well Inc. “Things have fallen our way a bunch of times over the four years we have supported Josh, and a little adversity is something we will battle through collectively. We are proud to continue to sponsor Josh and looking forward to our upcoming event in New Hampshire.”
Williams and the rest of the Xfinity Series field will return to action Saturday, May 29, in the Alsco 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, just the third time this season that practice and qualifying will be held due to COVID-19 procedures.
NASCAR Xfinity Series practice hits the track at 4:30 p.m. ET Friday, with qualifying slated for Saturday morning at 10:05 a.m. ET and the 200-lap race rolling off at 1 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon.
All action can be viewed on FS1, with supplementary radio coverage available through the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.