Josh Williams on departure from Kaulig Racing: Ive got more drive than ever
After a 22nd-place finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, discussions began internally about the immediate future of the No. 11 car. Williams is 19th in the regular-season championship standings and needed a Hail Mary to make the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs, so there was no sense in delaying the inevitable.
'We had our differences a little bit. I don't think they were happy, and I wasn't happy,' Williams told NASCAR.com. 'It seemed like it was the best thing to do for both of us that we can all move forward and work towards the future a little bit faster. It worked out for both of us.'
MORE: |
Chris Rice, team president for Kaulig Racing, agreed with Williams. The relationship just wasn't working out for either party.
'Sometimes, chemistry just doesn't work in marriages, life, anything' Rice told NASCAR.com on Thursday morning. 'When you look at our Xfinity program, there's a lot of potential there but we haven't been putting it to work. Those decisions are tough. When you think about our M.O., we're all about having fun and trying to win trophies. At the end of the day, it's not about that — it's about giving people opportunities to showcase their talent and making sure our stuff is up to par for everybody else.'
Williams earned six top-10 finishes in 54 starts in Kaulig's flagship No. 11 Chevrolet, with a best effort of sixth in May at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Williams led 14 laps total in those starts.
Kaulig Racing is winless through 21 races in 2025, with Rice considering the season unacceptable. That is on the heels of a 2024 season where Shane van Gisbergen dominated three road-course races in Kaulig equipment and AJ Allmendinger ultimately made the Championship 4 by scoring an upset victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the Round of 8.
'We all want to win, but we want to be in contention to win and have a better opportunity to win and run top 10, run top five and we haven't even come close to that,' Rice added. 'We've got to figure that out. I think over the next couple of weeks before we get into the playoffs, we can judge our Xfinity program and see what needs to be changed and what we need to do for 2026.'
Rookie Christian Eckes is the only Kaulig driver to score a top-five finish in 2025, earning three so far this year. He leads Kaulig with eight top-10 finishes, while fellow rookie Daniel Dye has seven top 10s.
Williams wouldn't go as far as saying he didn't get a fair shot with Kaulig, but he said, 'it wasn't an ideal situation.'
'The past few years, as a whole organization, the performance wasn't as good as it was a few years before I even got there,' Williams said. 'Teams go through cycles. A lot of times, teams are really good and then they fade off a little bit and go back to being good. We were in that low part. I don't think it's anybody's fault; it's just the position that we were in.'
Since the news dropped on Wednesday, Williams' phone hasn't stopped buzzing. Countless people within the racing industry reached out, making the process easier to reconcile. Rice said the same with the No. 11 car being a key opening leading into the offseason. Currently, he's unsure if Kaulig will operate two or three full-time Xfinity cars come 2026.
'I've had numerous Xfinity teams, numerous truck teams reach out to me,' Williams said. 'A lot of team owners, other drivers, people very high up in NASCAR, Hall of Fame drivers — I've had a lot of people reach out to me today and they are all on my side and everyone is behind me.'
With a host of people checking in on Williams, he feels satisfied despite the circumstances. Every colleague working directly on the No. 11 Chevrolet reached out to him, aside from crew chief Eddie Pardue, Williams added.
'It goes to show you what type of person that I am,' he said. 'I can't walk down pit road without being late to the car because I've got to stop and talk to 100 people on the way. Everyone respects me and knows who I am as a person and how I treat people.
'I never burn a bridge because you don't know what the future holds. Motorsports is the smallest community in the world. Everything is a circle, no pun intended. We're all in this small circle and you never know when you're going to need that person one day. I might need Kaulig Racing one day and they might need me one day. You've got to keep those doors open.'
Rice appreciated the opportunity of getting to work with Williams and alluded to being thankful for the partnership they had.
Williams isn't done racing in 2025. Highlighted by primary partner Alloy Employer Services, Williams has a loyal sponsorship following that is committed to four more races this season. He couldn't confirm yet which races he will participate in or with which team.
'I have the people who are important to further my career on my side and that means a lot,' Williams said.
Nailing down 2026 plans is top of mind for Williams. Separating from one of the series' mainstays didn't hurt too much, Williams said, because 'I know where my future is going.'
'It's still upsetting because I'm a racer; I want to go race,' he said. 'I have a plan for the future, so I feel like that makes it easier. I feel like I've got more drive than ever.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
21 minutes ago
- USA Today
Tennessee basketball offers 2028 shooting guard
Tennessee is recruiting toward its 2028 basketball signing class. The Vols offered a scholarship to shooting guard AJ Williams. "Blessed to receive an offer from the University of Tennessee," Williams announced. The 6-foot-6, 205-pound prospect is from Dutchtown High School in Hampton, Georgia. He also played for the USA Basketball U16 national team as a part of the FIBA U16 Men's AmeriCup in 2025. Williams has not accumulated recruiting rankings from 247Sports or On3. Mississippi State was the first school to offer him a scholarship on April 19. Additional schools to offer Williams scholarships include Georgia Tech, Georgia, Auburn, Indiana, North Carolina State, Louisville, Cincinnati, Vanderbilt, Memphis and Rutgers. Tennessee does not have a commitment for its 2028 basketball recruiting class. The Vols have six commitments in their 2025 basketball recruiting class: forward DeWayne Brown, small forward Amari Evans, point guard Troy Henderson, forward Nate Ament, shooting guard Clarence Massamba and shooting guard Ethan Burg. Follow Vols Wire on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Guardians' Gavin Williams reflects on near no-hitter against Mets
Guardians' Gavin Williams reflects on near no-hitter against Mets originally appeared on The Sporting News Gavin Williams had already thrown a career-high 111 pitches through the first eight innings of the Cleveland Guardians' game against the New York Mets on Aug. 6, but he trotted to the mound looking to complete MLB's first no-hitter of the 2025 season. "When I went out for the ninth, if it took me 150 pitches to try and get a no-hitter done, that's what I would've done," Williams said in an interview with Foul Territory TV's Scott Braun and Trevor May on Friday. "The velo was still there, as everyone sees." He would have to accomplish the feat the hard way, though, by finding his way through the heart of the Mets' order — Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto and Pete Alonso — for the fourth time that afternoon. Williams' first pitch to Lindor crossed the plate well outside the strike zone for ball one. Lindor fouled off the next two pitches before swinging and missing at a curveball down and inside. The next at bat also began with a ball — this time, one that bounced off home plate. Now behind in the count, Williams threw an outside fastball that landed in the middle of the zone. Soto's bat connected with the ball, and despite Guardians center fielder Angel Martínez's best efforts, launched it over the center-field fence for a home run that ended both Williams' no-hit and shutout bids. "Obviously, Soto, left it up just a little over the plate for him, and he took a good swing," Williams said. "It was nice getting a refresher after he hit that, and [Guardians pitching coach] Carl [Willis] coming out and giving me a little break, trying to get two outs after that." Williams, unfortunately, did not get those final two outs. He got Alonso to fly out, but after allowing a six-pitch walk to Brandon Nimmo, Guardians manager Steven Vogt emerged from the dugout to make a pitching change. Cleveland, with Hunter Gaddis on the mound, would go on to claim a 4-1 victory after Mark Vientos flied out to center field. Williams still finished the contest with a strong stat line: 8.2 innings pitched, one hit, one earned run, four walks, six strikeouts and 126 pitches thrown, including 75 for strikes. Reflecting on the performance, Williams said his cutter and sinker were among the strongest pitches he threw that day. "The cutter wasn't there as much as I've had in the past, but I threw it to get them off balance. And then, throwing the sinker to lefties and righties — which, that was the first time I threw it both to righties and lefties — to get them off the heater," Williams said. "I know in the past I threw, I guess, 50% heaters in games, so being able to get the guys off the heater is big." He added that, even though the end result didn't turn out exactly how he may have wanted, finding himself two outs away from a no-hitter was an experience he won't soon forget. "It was just a surreal moment," Williams said. "[It] doesn't really happen that often. And being able to get in that position and stay in that position throughout the whole game in a good lineup, it was phenomenal."
4 hours ago
Austin Dillon makes NASCAR Cup playoffs with redemptive victory at Richmond
RICHMOND, Va. -- Austin Dillon left no doubt this time that he will make the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs with his second consecutive victory at Richmond Raceway. A year after his championship eligibility was revoked for wrecking two drivers on the final lap, Dillon grabbed a playoff berth Saturday night with a clean run to the checkered flag on the 0.75-mile oval. The Richard Childress Racing driver outdueled Ryan Blaney over the final 100 laps, seizing control with a shrewd strategy call to pit his No. 3 Chevrolet four laps earlier than the Team Penske driver's No. 12 Ford. Dillon, who led 107 of 400 laps, won by 2.471 seconds over Alex Bowman. Blaney faded to third, followed by Joey Logano and Austin Cindric. With his sixth career victory, Dillon became the 14th race winner to lock into the 16-driver field for the Cup playoffs, which are contested over the final 10 races of the season. The regular season will conclude next Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway, where the final two playoff drivers will be confirmed. After a consistent start to his season, Chase Elliott is in a slump heading into the playoffs. The 2020 Cup champion finished last at Richmond and failed to finish for the first time since last October at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (27 races ago). Elliott nearly had cleared the pileup on the 198th lap when he was tagged in the right rear by Kyle Busch. 'I think Kyle just didn't know that we were trying to squeeze by the wreck on the bottom,' Elliott said. 'We had a good start to the night, and it just slowly unraveled until it finally fell apart. Hopefully we get on a better stretch starting next week.' Since briefly taking the points lead after his June 28 win at Atlanta, the seven-time Most Popular Driver has finished outside the top 10 in five of seven races. About an hour before the green flag, Richmond Raceway announced its first sellout since 2008. During its heyday, the track had 112,000 seats that sold out twice annually. Because of softening ticket sales amid lackluster racing, Richmond was scheduled for only one Cup race this season for the first time since 1958, and its grandstand capacity has dwindled to under 50,000. Denny Hamlin grew up about 20 miles south in Chesterfield, Virginia, and his family once had seats at Richmond. 'We always went to both races, but the sport is in a different place now,' he said. 'The way to get it back is you have to sell out at least the one time. That and improve short track racing. If you can do those things, then I think you will have a better case to having two races here.' A week after his fourth consecutive Cup victory on a street or road course, rookie Shane van Gisbergen finished an impressive 14th at Richmond after scraping the wall twice in qualifying and starting 27th. Though the New Zealand driver said he feels more competitive and comfortable on short tracks such as Richmond, his inexperience remains a major hurdle. At Richmond, the rookie tried to improve by studying the laps of Hamlin and Trackhouse Racing teammate Ross Chastain. 'Different tracks might be different people,' van Gisbergen said. 'Look at who stands out and just try and emulate what they're doing.' is the defending race winner but will be absent from the entry list after losing his ride and moving to the Xfinity Series this season.
