NASCAR drivers often have a preferred choice of venues. To cite a great example, one could name the history between Jeff Gordon or Martin Truex Jr and the Sonoma Raceway. Truex has an astounding 4 career wins at Sonoma, while Gordon did him one better with five. But not in all instances are happy memories associated with a venue. Josh Williams and Atlanta Motor Speedway do share such a story.

Earlier this year, in March, Josh faced a suspension for one race in a strange series of events. Returning to the speedway this Saturday, the DGM Racing driver showed that he is past the incident, displaying a solid performance at the track that had earlier set off a poor run for the Florida native. In a post-race conversation with Frontstretch, he has also signaled that despite the suspension, Atlanta will see more of him in the future.

Josh Williams on the possibility of treading into politics in Atlanta

The #92 Chevy driver for the Mario Gosselin-owned team has been going through a string of poor results since his March suspension. Currently, he sits 20th in the points table in the Xfinity Series with no wins and no top 5s under his belt. But on Saturday, he overcame the mental block to end his streak of misfortune with a 9th-place finish. Showing great pace in the qualifying, he confidently moved into the race. Exuberant about his strong show, Williams talks about his influence in the city in a post-race interview.

He was asked, “Just from the amount of Parker shirts I saw, the amount of photos I saw you taking with people, you feel like you could run for political office here?”

Answering the speculations about a future in local politics of Atlanta, he replied, “I told somebody that today, yes.” Revealing with a little smile, he added, “I’m running for the Mayor of this place.”

The 29-year-old is a popular figure in Atlanta, especially after his mid-race stunt at the venue in March. He faced a suspension for parking his car at the start-finish line after only 33 laps of the King of the Tough 250. Moreover, the stunt ended up generating more support for him. After all, Williams had to face the brunt of something that he said he was not really responsible for.

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The events that led to Williams’ suspension

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The bizarre incident made Josh an overnight sensation in the NASCAR community. After a portion of the tape got separated from his car after a repair, it forced a restart. Owing to this, NASCAR officials ordered Williams to park his car and abandon the race. Unhappy with this decision, Josh did stop his car, albeit at an unexpected place.

Responding to the radio advice, he drove the #92 Camaro to the starting line and then hopped out of the window to walk back into the pit road. En route to the pit road, he was seen waving the peace sign toward the audience without any remorse for his actions. In hindsight, Williams was simply another driver who was having to face the consequences of the race that had accidents galore.

The repair tape that triggered the caution flag and restart was applied by his pit crew to cover up some damage caused during the race. But due to cold conditions, the adhesive was simply not enough as it came off onto the track. NASCAR acted quickly to disqualify the team from the race which frustrated Josh to the extent that led to the events that unfolded. In a post-race press conference, he even revealed that his actions were a mere reflection of the pent-up frustration.

Drivers and fans also poured in to show their support for the unfortunate Josh Williams as he took accountability for his actions on Twitter. Although he thanked everyone associated to him in the race and the fans, he also added that he does not regret any part of his actions. Following the suspension, he has been granted a playoff waiver as well, to confirm his eligibility.

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