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Josh Williams Unable to Shake Off Tough Luck as “Mechanical” Issues Steal COTA Run

Published 03/23/2024, 7:04 PM EDT

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Josh Williams, driving the No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevy, is not having the best of days in the Xfinity Series race at Circuit of the Americas. Just as Brandon Jones took the stage 2 win, Williams had trouble with his car and had to return to the garage owing to a technical issue. This is his fourth race where he has had to suffer a blow to deliver the goods, but luck surely hasn’t been on his side.

Kualig Racing soon put out an announcement, stating that Williams’s car had an overheating issue. His misfortunes kicked in at the Daytona race, where he was involved in an 11-car pile-up, while he had his troubles with the tires at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Most recently at Phoenix, he again found himself on the receiving end of an accident that saw him finish the race in 27th place.

Josh William’s unsavory run in the Xfinity Series continues at COTA

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The Las Vegas race was the only event where Williams managed a decent finish, it was #14 that day. Apart from those results, he has either found himself on the bitter end of the stick with the wrecks or the mechanical failure. And on the road course at COTA, his No. 11 car had overheating issues, which again saw him finish dead end in #34.

Acknowledging his misfortunes of late, Williams, while speaking with NASCAR, shared his thoughts on the start of his season. “I know that it’s not a team issue, it’s just something out of our control. That’s what makes it OK. It’s not like we’re just having bad runs and don’t have any speed – luck just isn’t there. That’s what keeps me positive. It’s something that no one can control.”

Starting off at Daytona, he was involved in a wreck that saw him bow out early, and finish #34. Going into his next race in Atlanta, he had a stroke of bad luck again as three of his left rear tires went flat during the race. As a result, he finished in the 37th spot. At Phoenix, Jeremy Clements made contact with the No. 11 Kaulig car in lap 6, which grounded the sway bar on the car.

However, despite the streak of bad luck, Williams believes that the two short track races next on the schedule will see him bounce back in form.

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Williams is looking to end his unlucky streak with races at Richmond and Martinsville

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NASCAR is a tricky sport, at times, you can tread a fine line and get the results in your favor. While there are instances when nothing just works for the drivers, igniting a lean patch for the divers. This is what Josh Williams, driving the #11 car, is feeling as of now, with his run-in with bad luck since the start of the season. However, the 30-year-old believes that he might be able to put an end to this lean patch with the upcoming races at Richmond and Martinsville.

It’s super important because those are the types of race tracks that I succeed at. It’s a good opportunity for me to capitalize on gaining our points back and putting us back into a comfortable position, running well. Once you run good a couple of times, everything changes. The morale of the people, confidence, everything changes. I think we’ve got a good opportunity when we go back racing to have some solid finishes if we can stay out of trouble and the whole thing will change,” he added.

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Williams is placed in the 30th spot in the driver’s standings and is 61 points below the elimination line. Therefore, he will need to collect some points with a decent finish in the upcoming races.

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Written by:

Chintan Devgania

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Chintan Mahesh Devgania is a NASCAR Writer at EssentiallySports. As someone who likes to dive deep into the sport, he often takes up less explored topics to eventually see them make their way into top stories. His report on Toyota’s young recruit, Jade Avedisian, sharing her thoughts on Late Model Racing, was an example of that.
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Edited by:

Shivali Nathta