Josh Williams caused an uproar at the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday. Out of frustration about a decision by the race organizers against him, he parked his DGM Racing Chevrolet with the starting number 92 in the middle of the start-finish line during the ongoing race, got out and – waving at the spectators – walked towards the paddock.
For this action, for which the 29-year-old later apologized contritely, he and his team are now threatened with a severe penalty. Among other things, because Williams went to a “hot” track and violated a NASCAR policy. The height of the road is yet to be decided.
“I’m sure we’ll hear back sometime Tuesday,” Williams said after about 20 minutes of questioning from Xfinity Series director Wayne Auton and NASCAR senior vice president of competition Elton Sawyer.
Adhesive tape flies away and triggers yellow phase
had war happened? Williams was involved in a collision early in the race that damaged the right fender of his cars, among other things. The team tried to repair the damage with tape, but as Williams drove out of the pits, the tape came loose and flew onto the track, after which the race had to be neutralized again.
Since Williams and his team caused this interruption at least negligently, they were disqualified and instructed to park the car behind the pit wall in the team tent. Williams first discussed this decision on the pit radio and finally expressed his protest with his parking action on the start-finish line.
“We all work very hard, don’t we? We only do a certain number of laps and then something like this happens – a piece of tape comes off and we’re out of the race,” Williams said after the officials’ hearing. “We’re a small team. We work very hard. We have to make our sponsors happy. It’s no use sitting in the garage.”
Williams appears contrite afterwards
Is the 29-year-old aware that the decision of the race directors was justified and that he can expect a severe penalty for his action. “It’s just something I’ve done, and if I have to pay the price for it, then so be it.”
“I was a little frustrated, but that’s the rule. It’s their business. It’s their sandbox and we play in it,” Williams said. “I enjoy the Xfinity series and respect Wayne and everyone else.”
“I didn’t do this to be mean or to make a big scene or to upset everyone out here, but I just wanted to speak my mind,” Williams apologizes. “I felt like it wasn’t right, but it’s in the rule book. I’m a racer. I’ve been racing since I was four. I’ve been bad too. I’ve done wrong, but we’re all human, aren’t we true?”
Additional co-authors: Jim Utter. Featuring footage from Motorsport Images.
Source : de.motorsport.com