Josh Williams released from Kaulig Racing, effective immediately

Josh Williams, who has been driving the No. 11 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing since the start of the 2024 season, is now out of a ride. The team has made the decision to part ways with Williams, effective immediately.

“Kaulig Racing announced that it has parted ways with NASCAR Xfinity Series driver, effective today,” an official statement read. “Kaulig Racing will field the No. 11 Chevrolet with multiple drivers over the remaining 12 races. More announcements regarding the driver lineup will be forthcoming.”

NASCAR Cup driver Carson Hocevar has been announced as the replacement driver for this weekend’s Xfinity race at Iowa Speedway.

Williams is a veteran of the NASCAR Xfinity Series with 240 starts since 2016. He also has five Cup Series starts, including two with Kaulig.

Reacting to the news, Williams posted the following statement to social media: “As most of you have seen, Kaulig Racing has made the decision to release me for the remainder of the season. This has been a difficult day for my family, friends, long-time partners and fans, whom I can’t thank enough for standing by my side through all of this. We will be back soon and looking forward to a much brighter chapter in my racing career. I wish nothing but the best for my guys on the 11 team.”

The frontstretch incident

Watch: Josh Williams parks car at start/finish line, walks to garage

The 31-year-old gained notoriety when he infamously defied NASCAR and parked his car on the frontstretch at Atlanta during the 2023 season. NASCAR had told him to go behind the wall after tape flew off of his damaged car, extending the caution. Williams argued the order and race control, and after they stopped scoring him, he pulled down the frontstretch and parked the car on the finish line. He then walked away, drawing cheers from the fans.

At the time, Williams was driving the No. 92 for DGM Racing. Since earning an opportunity at Kaulig, things have not gone well on track for the former ARCA race winner. Last year, he scored just four top tens and finished 18th in the standings. This year, he has two top tens and currently sits 19th in the standings.

Williams has never finished inside the top five before in his career, placing as high as sixth. His Kaulig teammates, Daniel Dye and Christian Eckes, are performing better than Williams, but they aren’t having great seasons either.

Eckes has three top fives and eight top tens, but he is only 16th in the standings. Dye, a rookie in 2025, has zero top fives but seven top tens.

Williams was also struggling with a lingering illness earlier this year, and needed another driver to finish the race at Las Vegas.