Springfield Dirt Another First For Josh Williams And His Team

Springfield Dirt Another First For Josh Williams And His Team

Topics: Josh Williams, Allen Crowe 100

Springfield Dirt Another First For Josh Williams And His Team

Chris Knight
Knight Motorsports Management
Josh Williams Motorsports
August 16, 2012

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (August 16, 2012) - - For the ninth time in 2012, Josh Williams and his Josh Williams Motorsports (JWM) team will tackle a new track on the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards circuit. This weekend, however the experience that the recently turned 19-year will inhale will be nothing like he’s ever seen before. Welcome to the Illinois State Fairgrounds otherwise known as the Springfield dirt mile!

In ARCA’s 16th race of the year, the 60th anniversary tour steers towards the first of two dirt races this season. In addition to Springfield, the series will trek to the DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds on Labor Day for the annual running of the Southern Illinois 100 presented by Federated Car Care.

But before Williams and his JWM posse can focus their efforts on DuQuoin, they’ll have to tackle the Springfield mile and take on a track surface that they’ve never experienced before.

The Port Charlotte, Florida native admits though that he is more than ready to embrace another new venue and believes with a little hard work and some luck, the team can negotiate a respectable finish in their inaugural ARCA dirt debut.

“I’ve been asking myself, what are we getting into?” said Williams. “This will be a new thing for me this weekend racing on the dirt, but I’m always eager for a challenge. It’s no secret that the day goes by incredibly fast. An hour for practice then an hour break for qualifying then we’re racing by 1:00 p.m. One thing is for sure, we won’t be standing around much.”

He continued, “No holds bar, we’re really hoping we can have a top-10 finish on Sunday afternoon. It’s been a while since we’ve been in the top-10, even though we’ve been close, we just haven’t had the breaks go our way in order to make that happen. Hopefully, this weekend everything will fuse together and we can get a good finish for everyone at Josh Williams Motorsports.”

When asked what to expect when he takes to the track on Sunday morning, the Floridian offered, “I’m not sure what to really expect in all honesty. I’m going to talk to some of the drivers at the driver’s meeting and hope they’ll be able to give me some tips. I’m sure we’ll have to learn a majority of it though on our own. No doubt that Springfield will be a good test session for DuQuoin.”

Another reason that a top-10 finish would be gratifying for the family-owned team is the team’s intentions of finishing out the season and finishing inside the top-10 in the driver championship standings. Currently ranked 11th overall, Williams sits just 125 markers from 10th place competitor Ryan Reed.

“There’s a couple of guys ahead of us in points that don’t plan to run all of the remaining races, but chasing them down (and passing them) before the season finale at Kansas Speedway won’t be easy, but nothing that we’ve done this year has been easy. We’ve fought a lack of sponsorship for a majority of the year – but the devotion to see us succeed by my parents has been incredible. I plan to drive my heart out until October and hope to give my Mom and Dad what they want – which is finishing inside the top-10. We’re sure going to try.”

The Allen Crowe 100 (100 laps / 100 miles) is the 16th of 20 events on the 2012 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards schedule. The 30th ARCA event held at the Illinois State Fairgrounds is a one-day show. Practice begins Sunday, August 19 with a one hour practice session planned from 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. Menards Pole by Ansell qualifying is slated to begin at 11:00 a.m. The field will take the green flag Sunday afternoon shortly after 1:00 p.m. The race will not be televised but additional coverage including a radio broadcast and timing and scoring will be available through the ARCA Racing Network (ARN) online at arcaracing.com. All times are local (Central).

For more information on Josh Williams, his Josh Williams Motorsports team and sponsorship opportunities for the 2012 and 2013 seasons please connect to the team’s official website at Joshwracing.com.

Williams has joined the Twitter crave. Follow and connect with him @Josh02Williams.

PHOTO CAPTION: Josh Williams, driver of the No. 02 Southwest Florida Cable Construction Ford Fusion in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards for Josh Williams Motorsports (JWM).

TEAM COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT:

NAME: Chris Knight, Knight Motorsports Management
PHONE: 239.834.9797
EMAIL: chris@chrisknightpr.com