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Armani Williams

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Armani Williams
Williams at Pocono Raceway in 2022
Born (2000-04-14) April 14, 2000 (age 24)
Grosse Pointe, Michigan
ARCA Menards Series career
Debut season2020
Former teamsFast Track Racing
Starts2
Wins0
Poles0
Best finish45th in 2020
Finished last season2020
Previous series
2018–2019
2018–2019		NASCAR K&N Pro Series East
NASCAR K&N Pro Series West
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
4 races run over 2 years
Truck no., teamNo. 46 (G2G Racing)
2022 position65th
Best finish65th (2022)
First race2021 Toyota 200 (Gateway)
Last race2022 Lucas Oil 150 (Phoenix)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Canada Series career
6 races run over 2 years
First race2017 Fast Eddie/CHOKO 250 (Delaware)
Last race2018 Visit New Hampshire 100 (Loudon)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 1 0
Statistics current as of November 5, 2022.

Armani Williams (born April 14, 2000) is an American professional stock car racing driver who competes part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 46 Toyota Tundra for G2G Racing. He has also competed in the ARCA Menards Series as well as what are now the ARCA Menards Series East and ARCA Menards Series West in the past.

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

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 NCTC Pts Ref
2021 Reaume Brothers Racing 33 Toyota DAY DAY LVS ATL BRI RCH KAN DAR COA CLT TEX NSH POC KNX GLN GTW
21 		DAR BRI LVS TAL MAR PHO 72nd 16 [7]
2022 43 DAY LVS ATL COA MAR BRI DAR KAN TEX
DNQ 		CLT GTW SON KNO NSH MOH POC
31 		IRP RCH 65th 10 [8]
Chevy KAN
35 		BRI TAL HOM
Young's Motorsports 20 Chevy PHO
35
2023 G2G Racing 46 Toyota DAY LVS ATL COA TEX
29 		BRI MAR KAN DAR NWS CLT
35 		GTW NSH MOH POC RCH IRP
DNQ 		MLW KAN BRI TAL HOM
31 		PHO -* -* [9]

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

K&N Pro Series East

NASCAR K&N Pro Series East results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 NKNPSEC Pts Ref
2018 Calabrese Motorsports 43 Ford NSM BRI LGY SBO SBO MEM
16 		NJM THO NHA IOW GLN GTW NHA DOV 53rd 28 [10]
2019 Kart Idaho Racing 38 Ford NSM BRI SBO SBO MEM NHA IOW GLN BRI GTW NHA
11 		DOV 38th 33 [11]

K&N Pro Series West

NASCAR K&N Pro Series West results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 NKNPSWC Pts Ref
2018 Patriot Motorsports Group 34 Ford KCR TUS TUS OSS CNS SON DCS IOW EVG
15 		GTW LVS MER AAS KCR 49th 29 [12]
2019 Vizion Motorsports 35 Chevy LVS IRW
DNQ 		51st 32 [13]
Kart Idaho Racing 38 IRW
12 		TUS TUS CNS SON DCS IOW EVG GTW MER AAS KCR PHO

Pinty's Series

NASCAR Pinty's Series results
Year Team owner No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Rank Points Ref
2017 DJK Racing 28 Dodge MOS DEL
11 		CHA ICA TOR WYA
14 		WYA
13 		EDM TRO RIV
12 		MOS STE JUK
13 		17th 157 [14]
2018 Peter Simone 97 Dodge MSP JUK ACD TOR SAS SAS EIR CTR RIS MSP ASE NHA
9 		JUK 42nd 35 [15]

ARCA Menards Series

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

ARCA Menards Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 AMSC Pts Ref
2020 Fast Track Racing 01 Ford DAY PHO
17 		TAL POC IRP KEN IOW KAN TOL TOL 45th 61 [16]
12 Chevy MCH
10 		DAY GTW L44 TOL BRI WIN MEM ISF KAN

* Season still in progress

References

  1. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b "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. ^ a b Campbell, Jason (June 30, 2017). "17-Year-Old Armani Williams is NASCAR'S First Driver with Autism". BlackDoctor.org. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  6. ^ a b 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.
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