Armani Williams

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Armani Williams
NationalityUnited States American
Born (2000-04-14) April 14, 2000 (age 21)
Grosse Pointe, Michigan
Related to
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
1 race run over 1 year
Truck no., teamNo. 33 (Reaume Brothers Racing)
First race2021 Toyota 200 (Gateway)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
Statistics current as of August 20, 2021.
ARCA Menards Series career
Debut season2020
Current teamFast Track Racing
Car number01, 12
EngineFord, Chevrolet
Crew chiefDick Doheny
Starts2
Wins0
Poles0
Best finish45th in 2020
Finished last season2020
Previous series
2018–2019
2018–2019
2017–2018		NASCAR K&N Pro Series East
NASCAR K&N Pro Series West
NASCAR Pinty's Series

Armani Williams (born April 14, 2000) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 01 Ford and No. 12 Chevrolet for Fast Track Racing. Williams is notable for being the first NASCAR driver (openly) diagnosed on the autism spectrum. He is also one of three African American drivers currently competing in NASCAR, along with Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace and Truck Series driver Jesse Iwuji.

Career[]

Williams 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 stated in an interview in October 2019 that he was hoping to run full-time in the ARCA Menards Series, East Series, or West Series in 2020 if possible.[2] At around that same time, Williams had been put up on Vizion's website as listed to be running full-time in the ARCA Menards Series in 2020,[4] although those plans did not come to fruition. However, Williams would get to make his debut in that 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.[5]

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.

In 2021, he made his truck debut at Gateway in the #33 Reaume Brothers Racing Ford.

Personal life[]

Diagnosed at age two,[6] 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.[7]

He and his father attended the Brickyard 400 when he was ten (so, the 2010 race), 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.[7] 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.[6]

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.)

Camping World Truck Series[]

NASCAR Camping World 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 NCWTC 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 [8]

* 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 43 Ford NSM BRI LGY SBO SBO MEM
16 		NJM THO NHA IOW GLN GTW NHA DOV 53rd 28 [9]
2019 38 Ford NSM BRI SBO SBO MEM NHA IOW GLN BRI NHA
11 		DOV 38th 33 [10]

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 34 Ford KCR TUS TUS OSS CNS SON DCS IOW EVG
15 		GTW LVS MER AAS KCR 49th 29 [11]
2019 Vizion Motorsports 35 Chevy LVS IRW
DNQ 		51st 32 [12]
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 [13]
2018 Peter Simone 97 Dodge MSP JUK ACD TOR SAS SAS EIR CTR RIS MSP ASE NHA
9 		JUK 42nd 35 [14]

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 45th 61 [15]
12 Chevy MCH
10 		DAY GTW L44 TOL BRI 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 c "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. ^ "Arca-Drivers". Vizion Motorsports. Archived from the original on October 13, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  5. ^ Torres, Luis (August 9, 2020). "Armani Williams Scores First Career ARCA Top 10 at Michigan". Motorsports Tribune. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ "Armani Williams – 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
  9. ^ "Armani Williams – 2018 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  10. ^ "Armani Williams – 2019 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  11. ^ "Armani Williams – 2018 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  12. ^ "Armani Williams – 2019 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  13. ^ "Armani Williams – 2017 NASCAR Pinty's Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  14. ^ "Armani Williams – 2018 NASCAR Pinty's Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  15. ^ "Armani Williams – 2020 ARCA Menards Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 9, 2020.

External links[]

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