There’s nothing quite like crossing the finish line during a race.
There’s also nothing quite like parking your car on top of the finish line during the race, which is exactly what Josh Williams did during Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
After Williams was involved in a crash, a piece of debris fell off his car and onto the track. According to a NASCAR rule, if a damaged vehicle doesn’t enter pit road at the first opportunity, the track can order the car to incur a penalty or not be permitted to continue racing. That’s apparently what happened to Williams and he decided that he would simply park his car at the finish line, get out, and walk away.
Josh Williams parked it … literally … on the start-finish line. pic.twitter.com/e42EV2u21g
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 18, 2023
“This is some bull…you know what,” said a member of Williams’ crew to him when the news came down. “Never heard of this in my life. You can do whatever you want here. I don’t know what to tell you, bud. I’m sorry.”
Williams was irate afterward and was pretty blunt about how he might deal with the repercussions of just leaving a car on the track and walking away.
“What’s he gonna do? Fine me? I can’t afford to pay it,” said Williams.
“What’s he gonna do? Fine me? I can’t afford to pay it,” Josh Williams #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/39uiJFCERd
— Noah Lewis (@Noah_Lewis1) March 18, 2023
It’s a pretty wild incident and it will be fascinating to see how NASCAR deals with it.