XFINITY: The perplexing struggles of Josh Williams continue at COTA
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Kaulig Racing (@KauligRacing)
Josh Williams picked up the 3rd last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Focused Health 250 at the Circuit of the Americas when his #11 Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet fell out with overheating issues after 24 of 50 laps.
The finish, which came in Williams’ 191st series start, was his first of the season and first in a XFINITY Series race since June 27, 2021 at Pocono, 88 races ago. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 12th for the #11, the 38th from overheating, and the 637th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 61st for the #11, the 181st from overheating issues, and the 1,931st for Chevrolet.
After landing the best ride of his career at Kaulig Racing, a further boost to his popularity from both his days running ARCA and his “Park It” incident last year at Atlanta, Williams is still looking for his first good finish of the year. An early crash at Daytona left him 34th, followed by a cut tire at Atlanta that left him out of the draft, multiple laps down. He led his first 10 laps of the season at Las Vegas, but only managed 14th, then crashed again just six laps into the race at Phoenix and finished five laps down in 27th. He entered COTA just 29th in the point standings.
As it happened, Saturday’s race coincided with the birth of his daughter Ettalynn, which came after staying by his wife’s side for 96 hours. As both mother and child are healthy and doing well, Williams made the trip back to Texas, where Daniel Hemric had practiced and qualified the car. The car proved fast – 16th in practice, then up to 9th in qualifying with a lap of 91.939mph (133.523 seconds). With Williams back, he would have to drop to the rear for the start of the race.
Following the withdrawal of Peterson Racing Group’s #87 Chevrolet, leading to driver Austin Green moving to Jordan Anderson’s #32 Chevrolet, 40 teams remained to attempt the 38-car field. Failing to qualify were Kaz Grala in RSS Racing’s unsponsored black-and-red #28 Ford and Preston Pardus, whose #50 Chinchor Electric, Inc. Chevrolet ran 10th-fastest in practice, but as he pulled off pit road for qualifying, felt something break in the right-rear. This proved to be an axle, resulting in the slowest lap of the session at 77.465mph (158.472 seconds), just over 26 seconds off the pole.
Securing the 38th and final starting spot was Ryan Ellis in the #43 Classic Collision Chevrolet. Williams was not the only driver sent to the back for pre-race penalties. Docked for unapproved adjustments were 22nd-place Daniil Kvyat in the #07 GOTRAX Chevrolet, 30th-place Anthony Alfredo in the #5 Dude Wipes Chevrolet, and 35th-place Hailie Deegan in the #15 Cody Jinks Change The Game Ford. Polesitter Kyle Larson fell to the rear for a brake issue on his #17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates 3rd-place Ty Gibbs in the #19 He Gets Us Toyota and John Hunter Nemechek in the #20 Dial Toyota were both docked for changing both the alternator and battery while 7th-place Sheldon Creed needed a throttle linkage repaired on his #18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota.
One more driver incurred a pre-race penalty, which would have a direct effect on the last-place battle. Leland Honeyman, Jr. qualified 34th in Young’s Motorsports’ #42 Austin Gamblers Chevrolet, but did so after multiple inspection failures, resulting in a pass-through penalty after the green flag. Thus, when the flag dropped, Honeyman was last in line, preparing to serve his penalty at the end of Lap 1. He did so, returning to the track 33.74 seconds back of the lead and 14.96 behind Ellis, but incurred a speeding penalty that sent him in for another pass-through. By the time he returned, he was even further behind and running completely by himself.
On Lap 4, the spot fell to Sheldon Creed, who while trying to bounce back from his pre-race penalty had to pit for an electrical issue. The team traced it back to the battery, and on Lap 5 pushed him behind the wall. He didn’t return to the track until Lap 10, now the lone car off the lead lap between six and seven laps down. Honeyman remained in the 37th spot, still trailing the field by a large margin. Creed remained among the leaders for the next run, and on Lap 21 had to clear a spinning Cole Custer as he got back up to speed in Turn 1.
The next time by on the 22nd circuit, Josh Williams served a pass-through penalty for short-cutting the course. This soon turned into an actual stop for an overheating issue that took him off the lead lap. From the team’s radio traffic, it was clear the issue would once again cost them a good finish. “When I get home,” said someone on Williams’ channel, “I’m gonna buy seven sheets of drywall and punch holes through each of them until the next race.”
By Lap 27, Williams’ car wasn’t taking in any water, and he was now four laps down in 37th. With the end of Stage 2 approaching, the spotter and crew kept an eye out for the leaders making their scheduled green-flag stops. Williams also moved the car to give Ty Gibbs a better shot into his stall. On Lap 29, Williams’ crew prepared to push the #11 behind the wall. “Where are we going – home?” asked Williams. “Yup,” said the crew. “Put it on the truck.” Another crew member prepared to put water in the car again, but the crew was already loading up. Creed lost a fifth lap during this run, so it wasn’t until Lap 30 that Williams took over last place. Creed went on to finish 32nd.
Taking 37th was Ty Dillon, whose #6 Ollie’s Discount Outlet Chevrolet had suspension issues nine laps after Williams’ exit. Sammy Smith took 36th due to crash damage after he bumped both Chandler Smith and Cole Custer spinning out of the Top Ten earlier in the race. Behind Smith’s #8 Pilot / Flying J Chevrolet came Ed Jones in the #24 CRC industries Toyota, which was collected in a pileup approaching Turn 11 along with 34th-place finisher Riley Herbst in the #98 Monster Energy Ford. Also collected in that wreck were Ryan Ellis, Leland Honeyman, Jr., Blaine Perkins, and Daniil Kvyat, who all finished outside the Bottom Five.
Austin Green’s 7th-place finish continues strong family legacy
The day’s most impressive performance by an underdog was Austin Green, son of NASCAR Busch Series champion David Green, who finished 7th in the Peterson Racing Group / Jordan Anderson Racing effort in the #32 3Dimensional.com Chevrolet. Austin finished better than either his father (30th) and uncles Jeff (22nd) and Mark (18th) did in their own XFINITY Series debuts.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #11 in a XFINITY Series race since August 15, 2020, when Justin Haley’s #11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet fell out with suspension issues (resulting from a crash) at the Daytona Infield Road Course.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #11-Josh Williams / 24 laps / overheating
37) #6-Ty Dillon / 33 laps / suspension
36) #8-Sammy Smith / 36 laps / crash
35) #24-Ed Jones / 42 laps / crash
34) #98-Riley Herbst / 45 laps / crash / led 2 laps
2024 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) DGM Racing, JR Motorsports, Jordan Anderson Racing, Kaulig Racing (1)
2024 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (4)
2024 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
