Williams is the first NASCAR driver openly diagnosed on the autism spectrum. He is one of two currently active autistic NASCAR drivers, along with Cody Ware. Over the course of his NASCAR career, Williams' cars have often sported blue paint schemes with the blue autism puzzle pieces to symbolize his diagnosis on the spectrum and to raise awareness. He is also one of five African-American drivers currently competing in NASCAR, along with Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace, Rajah Caruth, Blake Lothian, and Lavar Scott.
Racing career
Williams great-grandfather owned an auto-body repair shop creating the foundation for automobiles in the family. Williams in particular loved to play with Hot Wheels toy cars as a child, and later discovered NASCAR on TV and immediately began watching races. He soon decided it was what he wanted to do as a career, so he began racing go-karts at the age of eight, and eventually bandoleros after that.[1] Specifically, he attended a competitive go-karting school and then participated in go-kart races.[2]
Williams originally competed in the ARCA Truck Series,[3] finishing seventh in the standings in the 2016 season. However, the series was shut down after 2016, so he moved to the NASCAR Pinty's Series in Canada in 2017. Driving for his mentor, D. J. Kennington,[1] Williams drove his No. 28 Dodge in five races (plus withdrawing from a sixth), with a best finish of eleventh in his debut race at Delaware Speedway. He made one start in 2018 for Peter Simone's No. 97 Dodge at New Hampshire, where he earned his first top-ten finish in the series with a ninth-place.
He raced once in both the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West in 2018 for Calabrese Motorsports and Patriot Motorsports Group, respectively. He returned to the Patriot team, renamed Kart Idaho Racing, in 2019 (after a change in ownership), after not qualifying for the race at Irwindale driving the No. 35 for Vizion Motorsports. After Williams' DNQ, John Wood stepped out of his No. 38 for Williams to drive it, where he finished twelfth. In the East Series, Williams competed with Kart Idaho at New Hampshire, finishing eleventh in that race.
Williams in 2020 would make his debut in the ARCA Menards Series at Phoenix, where he drove Fast Track Racing's No. 01 car to a seventeenth place finish. He would then run team's No. 12 car at Michigan, where he scored a top-ten finish.[4]
In 2022, he ran two more races in the Truck Series (originally 3 until Josh Reaume's Darlington throwback was released).
Personal life
Diagnosed at age two,[5] Williams is on the autism spectrum and spoke his first word at three years old. He did have some social interaction and sensory issues growing up, as other people on the spectrum do, but quickly learned to improve and overcome them with the help of his parents.[6]
He and his father attended the 2010 Brickyard 400 when he was ten which sparked his interest in racing along with playing with toy cars at home and watching NASCAR races on TV. He attends Oakland University studying mechanical engineering.[6] His favorite driver growing up was Jimmie Johnson.[2]
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