By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway was a career day for Josh Williams.
Standing as one of the most improved underdogs in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2019, the driver of the No. 36 DGM Racing Chevrolet came home eighth in the Money Lion 300 at Talladega.
The result, his best in 37 Xfinity starts, was also his first-ever top-10 finish and the first for DGM Racing outside a road course.
“Some times you flip a coin and it lands on heads, some times on tails,” Williams said. “Luckily, we came out on the good end.”
With two- and three-wide racing scattered throughout the event, the finish came down to three laps. And for Williams, it was a blast.
“It was definitely wild,” he said. “At one point, I was dead sideways on the frontstretch, we were all three-wide. It’s a blast, man. Any time you come to these superspeedways and we all get three wide and dance around, it’s a good time.”
The result perhaps came down to one decision by Williams to leave the draft late in the race. Moments later, a multi-car wreck sparked off Turn 2. Williams was unscathed.
“I was like, ‘Well, that was a good idea,'” he said. “It happens. It’s so tough. Everyone in all on top of each other and then they all want to play follow-the-leader and run the fence. You just have to try to make something happen.”
With little recognition through hard work — work that turns from hours to days, and days to months — Williams was thrilled to get his name amongst the top dogs of the series.
“I hand people hero cards and they say, ‘Who are you?’ I said, ‘Just pay attention, you’ll figure it out one day,'” he said. “[A top 10] makes everyone feel good going into the shop on Monday. Coming back to Dover is a track I’ve never been to. At least having a bit of confidence is going to help.”
And the work doesn’t stop here.
“We just have to keep pressing on and working hard,” he said. “There aren’t many drivers left out there like me, so I’m going to keep the mold.
“Hopefully, we get more sponsors who’ll take notice of our performance and the places we can run well. Losing a sponsor at the beginning of the season hurt us pretty bad. It set s back a lot. Being at this point now after being set back so far, it shows how good our team is.”