(Photo: Mitchell Richtmyre | The Podium Finish)
Josh Williams parked it on the frontstretch at Atlanta Motor Speedway. But then NASCAR parked him.
After contact with Jeb Burton early in the Alsco Uniforms 250, Williams needed to pit for repairs. The team placed pieces of duct tape, also known as bear bond, onto Williams’ No. 92 DGM Racing machine as a fix. Because of the cold conditions, some of the tape failed to stay attached to the car and fell onto the racetrack.
NASCAR, at its discretion as outlined in the rulebook, ordered Williams to park it for the race for extending the caution. Williams initially didn’t believe it, running laps under caution until the reality of the situation set in. Instead of bringing the car down pit road and into the garage, Williams parked it on track at the start-finish line, got out and walked away.
“I was upset because we were still going to have a good day,” Williams told The Podium Finish. “I really didn’t think that it would be that big of a deal, but it definitely turned out to be.”
NASCAR suspended Williams for one race, preventing him from participating at Circuit of the Americas.
“I felt like [NASCAR was] going to do something,” Williams said. “They didn’t fine us or take any points, and I was kind of shocked that they didn’t fine us or take any points. I don’t know if they didn’t fine us because Denny [Hamlin] said he’d pay it or what, but on that aspect of things, it worked out.”
Williams immediately hit the ground running with a social media campaign. Using heart hands, which he displayed on the telecast at Atlanta as he walked off the track, he began selling t-shirts with “can’t park here” embroidered on it. He used the heart hands emoji on Twitter while interacting with users, gaining followers and engagement in the process.
Williams wanted to take off with the campaign to improve his marketability and build a brand at DGM.
Josh Williams’ car sits in front of the NASCAR hauler at Atlanta Motor Speedway. (Photo: Trish McCormack | The Podium Finish)
“You get to tell your story a little bit,” Williams explained. “A lot of people right off the bat were just — they kind of latched onto it and a lot of the fans enjoyed it. And a lot of people in the industry kind of got behind it as well. It was a good opportunity to just kind of let people know who I am and the things I do off the race track.
“People are still engaging and super supportive at the racetrack. All of the fans are behind me, and I guess it brought a little light back to the sport … people know me a little bit better and kind of have a story behind Josh Williams, instead of just the guy that parked on the frontstretch at Atlanta.”
While sitting in the NASCAR hauler at Atlanta during the race waiting for a conversation with Xfinity Series Managing Director Wayne Auton, Williams ate pizza which remained from earlier. He joked about it with reporters and on a podcast with Door Bumper Clear. When Williams returned to Richmond Raceway two weeks later, he paid the favor back, delivering pizza to both officials and media members.
As much as Williams has grown his image, he said it hasn’t led to new sponsorship — yet. But awareness around his name and his positive actions, such as visiting children in local hospitals, have increased his reputation and notority.
“It was cool to see,” Williams said on engagement about his story. “I like hanging out with the fans, talking to them, getting to know everybody and building friendships. Racers are all one big family. A lot of people are high on the sport right now and a lot of people are down on the sport right now. We’re trying to get everybody on that same level and get their excitement back up for NASCAR.”
On the track, Williams has a top 10 in nine races, which came last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. He said that the DGM cars have potential for top-15 speed — they just have had no luck.
“We’re still early in the year, so we’ve got some time to get our ducks in a row and make sure we’re on top of it and doing things the right way,” Williams said. “We just got to have luck on our side. Hopefully we didn’t use it all up at Talladega and we got a little bit left for us the rest of the year.”
But regardless, Williams has come out on top. While he’s had “ups and downs” inside the car, he’s won outside of it.
“I learned a little bit about the rulebook,” Williams joked. “For all the fans to get so excited over something like that, I feel that it speaks volumes to where we’re at as a sport.”
