Roulette Recap follows a randomly drawn NASCAR Xfinity Series driver throughout a race and recaps their efforts. The driver could face calamity on lap one or start from the rear and win the race – there is no telling ahead of time. May the odds be ever in the driver’s favor.
Cabo Wabo 250
The Cabo Wabo 250 weekend got off to a rocky start for Josh Williams. Coming off a 30th birthday celebration, the DGM Racing driver sat P31 in practice and qualified P29 for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race.
However, before the action at Michigan International Speedway could get started, Williams would have to start at the rear for unapproved adjustments. Only one way for the No. 92 team to go – forward!
Coming to the green flag, Williams thanked his team and sponsors and said, “Let’s go get another top 10!”
Stage 1
After settling into P34 by Lap 4, spotter Reed Sorenson told Williams, “Use this clean air. You’ll run these guys down.” However, as soon as Williams got a run, the caution was out as Kaz Grala got loose and went for a spin.
Williams updated his team, “Just free off the wall. Other than that, it’s pretty good!” He was scored in P31 and the conversation immediately turned to whether or not to pit.
Ultimately, crew chief Mario Gosselin opted to keep Williams on track to try and gain some track position.
The race resumed on Lap 10 and Williams set off with a game plan and instructions, “Don’t be afraid to go three-wide again!”
The second caution was in the air on Lap 11 as Sammy Smith, Carson Hovcevar, John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Gibbs, and Mason Maggio got into each other creating quite the pile-up with parts and pieces flying everywhere.
Major issues for multiple cars on lap 11. pic.twitter.com/eGuRpZUETY
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) August 5, 2023
Fortunately, Williams dodged the incident and moved to P30. As pit road opened, Gosselin once again opted to stay on track.
After a lengthy cleanup, the next restart came on Lap 17 with Williams in P31. The race ran clean for two laps until the caution waved again on Lap 20. This time, for the No. 08 of Maggio slow on track.
Williams was scored P29 after slowly making ground. Gosselin used this caution with 10 laps remaining in the stage to hit the pits for fresh tires, fuel, and adjustments. The long-term plan was to stay on track during the stage break.
Williams returned to the track in P33 with seven laps remaining in the caution-filled opening stage. The leaders were bumping doors and going three wide but kept the race green and action-packed. Williams worked his way to P30 as he battled with and ultimately passed Jeffrey Earnhardt.
With three to go, Williams hit P29, then gained two more spots within a lap. As the green and white checkered flag waved, Williams was scored P25.
“I still can’t drive it in as hard as I’d like,” Williams said. “But it is better.”
Stage 2
Gosselin told his driver they would go ahead and pit. He shared, “If you’re not totally happy with the car, I don’t want you starting on the front row. I don’t want to put you in that situation.”
Williams laughed and said, “Well, I’d still drive the s— out of it!”
Gosselin responded, “Oh, I know you would! But I don’t want to put you up there.”
After a wild stop on a no-tire strategy, Williams returned to the track in P8 to start the second stage. Sorenson encouraged his driver, “It’s just about getting through those first few laps. We will be okay!”
Williams fell to P10 on the restart but got a push down the backstretch. As he went four-wide, he quickly sunk to P22. At this time, the No. 24 of Connor Mosack wrecked and brought out the caution.
Williams could only say, “Wow.”
Sorenson responded sarcastically, “That looked super fun.”
When asked if he was still loose, Williams said, “Hard to tell when there are cars three inches off both sides of me!”
Long Green Flag Run
Williams restarted P25 on Lap 43 with a lot of aggressive driving ahead of him. After a shove from Earnhardt, he gained a spot.
At this time, there were two things worth noting. The first – some drivers were trying to jump into the PJ1 and see what the grip level was like. The second was the weather. A huge cell popped up on the radar and was trucking its way toward the track, looking to bring race-ending rain.
Drivers stretched out the field and Williams sat P25 with 10 to go in the stage. Williams noted his car was “just slowing down, for some reason.”
Gosselin radioed back to get more details and Williams said, “When I get in the gas off the corner, it doesn’t pull off very well.” And when asked about water temp, Williams said, “I don’t know. It’s not working.”
Gosselin confirmed that SMT looked fine and he did not notice anything “horrible.”
And the proof was in the pudding. Williams finished the stage P25.
He updated his crew chief, “Just too tight center, off. Picked up a pretty bad vibration the last 10 laps or so. The track has a ton of grip.”
Ahead of the final stage, Williams came to his crew for fresh tires and adjustments.
Stage 3
Williams lined up P25 with 59 to go. Two laps in, Sorenson warned his driver, “Lots of pushing and shoving in front of you.”
Williams had lost a spot but settled in P26 for the next 26 laps. In the midst of a long green flag run, he ran his fastest lap of the race. Additionally, Sorenson encouraged Williams to jump into the PJ1 and “give it a try.” Williams said he went up once and it was “like a dump truck that won’t turn.”
With 31 to go, Williams gained two spots as a couple of cars had issues and hit pit road. A lap later, the leaders began green flag pit stops. Williams was told to “keep clicking off laps,” and he worked his way to the top 10.
Williams was called to pit road from P4 with 25 laps to go for fresh tires, fuel, and final adjustments. He hit the track in P31, down one lap, with 23 to go. As the last cars to pit took to pit road, Williams moved to P27.
With 18 to go, Williams was tailing the No. 9 of Brandon Jones in P4 in an attempt to un-lap himself. Five laps later, the caution waved as the No. 35 of Patrick Emerling got into the wall after a tire went down. Williams was scored P23, still down a lap.
With that, the game plan was to stay out and be in contention for the lucky dog for the next caution that would surely come sooner than later.
Seven laps remained when the restart came and Williams was in P24, down a lap. As the field took five to go, Williams was holding steady, attempting to gain position on those around him.
Coming to four to go, Earnhardt was giving Wiliams a push and it was enough to snag P23 from Jeremy Clements.
Finally, as the weather held off and the much-needed caution never came, the race wound down with Williams bringing home his machine in P22, having gained a spot after the No. 16 of Chandler Smith blew a tire.
Williams once again thanked his team and said, “We survived! On to the next one!”
Sponsor Shoutout
As NASCAR fans know, sponsors make the sport go ’round. We want to give a shoutout to a few that were a huge part of the weekend for Josh Williams and the No. 92 team:
Alloy Employer Services, General Formulations, Call 811
Keep up with Josh Williams (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) and DGM Racing (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) on all their social channels.
