What is the Josh Williams controversy surrounding March 18 Xfinity race in Atlanta?

Josh Williams brought out the caution in the Xfinity race in the most bizarre fashion the sport has ever seen. The #92 Chevrolet driver parked his car on the start-finish line after being ordered to stop the car and walked towards his garage waving at the crowd.

Williams's car was damaged in a three-car crash that brought out the caution on Lap 28. The 29-year-old pitted for repairs, and his team papered over the cracks and sent him out.

The damaged #92 car spewed debris on the track, bringing out the caution on Lap 32. NASCAR officials ordered him to return to the garage and out of the race.

Williams initially argued about retirement but later agreed to halt. However, to everyone's surprise, the #92 DGM Racing driver parked the car on the start-finish line in a hopeless display of frustration and anger. The 29-year-old was confused as to why the officials forced him to retire.

NASCAR can order a car off the track according to the Damaged Vehicle Policy mentioned in Section 8.8.9.I of the Xfinity Rule Book. The rule states:

"At the discretion of the Series Managing Director, if a damaged vehicle elects not to enter pit road on the first opportunity or if a damaged vehicle exits pit road before sufficient repairs had been made and thereafter causes or extends a caution (e.g. leaking fluid, debris, etc.), then said vehicle may incur a lap(s) or time penalty or may not be permitted to return to the Race."

According to the rules, Josh Williams was forced to retire for 'extending a caution' with his damaged car.

After the incident, Williams was taken to the infield care center and then escorted to the team hauler. The #92 driver waited to meet the race officials in the hauler until the race was over.

Xfinity Series director Wayne Auton and NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition Elton Sawyer engaged in a discussion with the driver that lasted 20 minutes.

When Josh Williams finally appeared in front of the media, he regretted his decision on track. Any penalties will be announced on Tuesday (March 21). The #92 driver was classified as DNF and stood 32nd in the 38-car grid.

---

Josh Williams expresses his frustration and elaborates on his actions

Josh Williams [File Picture]

Josh Williams expressed his frustration over the incident and cleared any speculations if he had done so to get some air-time.

"I told them [NASCAR], I was a little bit frustrated but it was in the rule book."

"We all work really hard and to only run ‘X’ amount of laps and then to have something like a piece of bear bond and put us out of the race, it’s really frustrating. Small team. We work really hard. We’ve got to make our sponsors happy, right? It doesn’t do any good sitting in the garage. It is what it is. We’ll learn from it and move on."

Williams admitted to having committed a similar act on a short track early in his career. On being asked if he was expecting to be suspended by NASCAR, he replied:

"I’m not sure. It’s up to Wayne and everybody at NASCAR. If that’s what the rule is and they decide to do, every action has a reaction."

While the 29-year-old failed to finish the race, he successfully stirred up the NASCAR world.