Armani_Williams

Armani Williams

Armani Williams

American racing driver (born 2000)


Armani Williams (born April 14, 2000) is an American professional stock car racing driver who competes part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 13 Toyota Camry for MBM Motorsports. He has also competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series as well as what are now the ARCA Menards Series East and ARCA Menards Series West in the past.

Quick Facts Born, ARCA Menards Series career ...

Williams is the first NASCAR driver openly diagnosed on the autism spectrum. Over the course of his NASCAR career, Williams' cars have often sported blue paint schemes with the blue autism puzzle pieces to symbolize his diagnosis on the spectrum and to raise awareness. He is also one of five African-American drivers currently competing in NASCAR, along with Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace, Jesse Iwuji, Rajah Caruth, and Blake Lothian.

Racing career

Williams great-grandfather owned an auto-body repair shop creating the foundation for automobiles in the family. Williams in particular loved to play with Hot Wheels toy cars as a child, and later discovered NASCAR on TV and immediately began watching races. He soon decided it was what he wanted to do as a career, so he began racing go-karts at age 8, and eventually bandoleros after that.[1] Specifically, he attended a competitive go-karting school and then participated in go-kart races.[2]

Williams originally competed in the ARCA Truck Series,[3] which was shut down during his time racing in that series, so he moved to the NASCAR Pinty's Series in Canada in 2017. Driving for his mentor, D. J. Kennington,[1] Williams drove his No. 28 Dodge in five races (plus withdrawing from a sixth), with a best finish of eleventh in his debut race at Delaware Speedway. He made one start in 2018 for Peter Simone's No. 97 Dodge at New Hampshire, where he earned his first top-10 finish in the series with a ninth-place.

He raced once in both the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West in 2018 for Calabrese Motorsports and Patriot Motorsports Group, respectively. He returned to the Patriot team, renamed Kart Idaho Racing, in 2019 (after a change in ownership), after not qualifying for the race at Irwindale driving the No. 35 for Vizion Motorsports. After Williams' DNQ, John Wood stepped out of his No. 38 for Williams to drive it, where he finished twelfth. In the East Series, Williams competed with Kart Idaho at New Hampshire, finishing eleventh in that race.

Williams in 2020 would make his debut in the ARCA Menards Series at Phoenix, where he drove Fast Track Racing's No. 01 car to a 17th-place finish. He would then run team's No. 12 car at Michigan, where he scored a top-ten finish.[4]

In 2021, he made his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut at Gateway in the No. 33 Reaume Brothers Racing Toyota, finishing 21st.

In 2022, he will attempt two more races (originally 3 until Josh Reaume's Darlington throwback was released).

Personal life

Diagnosed at age two,[5] Williams is on the autism spectrum and spoke his first word at three years old. He did have some social interaction and sensory issues growing up, as other people on the spectrum do, but quickly learned to improve and overcome them with the help of his parents.[6]

He and his father attended the 2010 Brickyard 400 when he was ten which sparked his interest in racing along with playing with toy cars at home and watching NASCAR races on TV. He attends Oakland University studying mechanical engineering.[6] His favorite driver growing up was Jimmie Johnson.[2]

He is from Grosse Pointe, Michigan[1] and had a 3.0 GPA at his high school while balancing school and racing.[5]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Craftsman Truck Series

More information NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results, Year ...

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

K&N Pro Series East

More information NASCAR K&N Pro Series East results, Year ...

K&N Pro Series West

More information NASCAR K&N Pro Series West results, Year ...

Pinty's Series

More information NASCAR Pinty's Series results, Year ...

ARCA Menards Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

More information ARCA Menards Series results, Year ...

* Season still in progress


References

  1. Segal, Davey (August 20, 2018). "Armani Williams Defying the Odds and Living His Dream in NASCAR". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  2. "Get to know Armani Williams in 6 questions". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. October 31, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  3. Johnson, Elizabeth Ofosuah (June 12, 2019). "Meet the first autistic NASCAR driver who is only 18 years old". Face2FaceAfrica. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  4. Torres, Luis (August 9, 2020). "Armani Williams Scores First Career ARCA Top 10 at Michigan". Motorsports Tribune. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  5. Campbell, Jason (June 30, 2017). "17-Year-Old Armani Williams is NASCAR'S First Driver with Autism". BlackDoctor.org. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  6. Sandison, Ron (September 10, 2018). "An Interview With Armani Williams, The First NASCAR Driver On The Autism Spectrum". The Art of Autism. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  7. "Armani Williams – 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  8. "Armani Williams – 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  9. "Armani Williams – 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  10. "Armani Williams – 2018 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  11. "Armani Williams – 2019 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  12. "Armani Williams – 2018 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  13. "Armani Williams – 2019 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  14. "Armani Williams – 2017 NASCAR Pinty's Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  15. "Armani Williams – 2018 NASCAR Pinty's Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  16. "Armani Williams – 2020 ARCA Menards Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  17. "Armani Williams – 2024 ARCA Menards Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 17, 2024.

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