If NASCAR doesn’t go back to Circuit of the Americas, there’s at least one driver who might be happy he doesn’t have to see it on the schedule again.
Whenever the NASCAR Xfinity Series goes to COTA, there’s typically been some bad luck or poor timing that’s done in Josh Williams. He failed to qualify for the first two events at the Texas road course in 2021 and 2022, and he was suspended for the 2023 running after he famously parked his car at the finish line at Atlanta Motor Speedway the week prior.
Last year, Williams’ wife going into labor forced him to miss practice and qualifying. After the birth of their daughter, Williams returned to COTA in time to make the race … only to finish last with a mechanical problem.
Williams came back to COTA for a second time with Kaulig Racing on March 1 and seemingly lifted whatever curse he had at the track. He finished 15th … and got really sick.
He somehow powered through to complete the race at Phoenix Raceway, but he came back to Las Vegas Motor Speedway even worse off. Despite being on an IV the night prior, Williams knew early that he couldn’t make it all 200 laps. He told his team he couldn’t catch his breath. Williams later told NASCAR.com that doctors said he had fluid in his lungs.
“I’ve never felt like this my entire life,” Williams said. “It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever felt before. It’s like you’re almost drowning.”
He sank to 35th while the crew scrambled to get Ty Dillon ready to hop in the car. Dillon, scoring points for Williams, finished 29th.
“I don’t think he’s feeling much better,” Kaulig Racing president Chris Rice told Frontstretch after the race Saturday (March 15). “We all went through the flu, probably. Coming to Phoenix, then flying back home and then coming over (to Vegas), you could just tell he was under the weather.”
There’s no telling when Williams will feel better physically. Unfortunately for him, the illness overshadows the fact that he’s already looking better on-track compared to his first five races in 2024.
Through his first five races with Kaulig last season, Williams was 31st in the points and had an average finish of 30. By comparison, his teammates — AJ Allmendinger and Shane van Gisbergen — were both in the top 15.
Williams entered Las Vegas having yet to finish worse than 20th. He fought through his illness to a 12th-place finish at Phoenix, his best non-superspeedway run since the Chicago street course last July.
Williams was 15th in the point standings before his illness stricken run at Vegas. It was the highest the Xfinity journeyman had been in the series points since 2020.
It’s been a solid on-track start for Williams, especially when considering last season and the illness he’s managed to live with for over two weeks. For Kaulig? It depends on if you see the glass as half full or half empty.
It’s half empty from the team president’s perspective.
“We got a lot of work to do,” Rice said. “We’re in trouble. I haven’t been around the Xfinity cars that much. I’m about to spend a lot of time (on them) coming up. We got to get our cars better. We’re not where we need to be … We got to go to work.”
Christian Eckes hasn’t been bad by any means, sitting 11th in the point standings with a pair of top 10s in his first five Xfinity starts. Neither has Daniel Dye, who has a top 10 and no finish worse than 19th since the season opener.
Then again, the expectations for those teams and drivers is much higher than where they’re at.
Eckes dominated the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series last season and finished out of the top 10 just once. He’s in a ride that was consistently in the top 10 with Allmendinger behind the wheel. His catchup in the Xfinity Series is going to be accelerated and soon he’s going to need to be contending for wins.
Dye is more of a project driver, someone not being expected to compete for wins right away in the Xfinity Series. That said, he’s still in equipment that should be competing for top 10s with ease based on its history.
Then there’s Williams, having one of the best seasons of his career while fighting through a sickness he can’t shake. While he may not be anyone’s favorite to win a title, changes in the team have thrust him into an important role within Kaulig.
After being the youngest of three full-time drivers last season, Williams is now the elder statesmen with a chance of leading one of Xfinity’s top teams.
It would be a shame if that opportunity slipped away because of sickness. Then again, Williams risks his livelihood if he pushes himself beyond what his body will allow. If he’s not healthy, the decision to race at Homestead-Miami Speedway and beyond isn’t just a matter of keeping up appearances. It could change the outlook for himself and his entire team.
James Krause joined Frontstretch in March 2024 as a contributor. Krause was born and raised in Illinois and graduated from Northern Illinois University. He currently works in La Crosse, Wisconsin as a local sports reporter, including local short track racing. Outside of racing, Krause loves to keep up with football, music, anime and video games.