Josh Williams took the racing world by storm a couple weeks ago for his shenanigans at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Despite finding himself on NASCAR officials' bad side by parking his damaged car on the start-finish line, he earned himself a solid amount of fans for his defiance of the rules. As it turns out, one of his most recent supporters just so happens to be a NASCAR Hall of Famer by the name of Mark Martin.
On April 4, Martin, who won 40 Cup races and garnered 453 top-10 finishes during his lengthy career in NASCAR's highest level, showed that he was all aboard the Josh Williams hype train by tweeting out photo evidence of his recent purchase of a "Park It" shirt, which Williams had specially made to commemorate his antics at Atlanta.
"PARK IT anywhere you want @Josh6williams?," Martin wrote. Oh come on, Mark. Now you're just encouraging him!
PARK IT anywhere you want ?@Josh6williams? ?? pic.twitter.com/8g8iYszfx5
— Mark Martin (@markmartin) April 4, 2023
As you can imagine, Williams was thrilled by Martin's support and tweeted back his gratitude just a couple hours later.
"Thank you for the support brother means a lot ?," Williams wrote.
Thank you for the support brother means a lot ? https://t.co/h4EiS9mPJw
— Josh Williams (@Josh6williams) April 5, 2023
In case you're not up to speed on the whole Josh Williams saga, here's a quick recap. During the RAPTOR King of Tough 250 on March 18, Williams was involved in a collision on lap 27 of the NASCAR Xfinity Series race. This caused some debris to fall from his No. 92 DGM Racing Chevy, and due to NASCAR's damaged vehicle policy, he was forced to park his car in the garage. Instead of complying with NASCAR officials' orders, Williams parked his car on the start-finish line, got out, and walked to pit road. As punishment for his disobedience, Williams was slapped with a one-week suspension and missed the following week's race at Circuit of the Americas.
Clearly, Williams' decision to go rogue has seriously paid off. Not only has he increased his name recognition and earned a decent amount of money for charity (proceeds from his "Park It" t-shirts are going towards several charitable organizations, including the Josh Williams Hospital Tour), but he also earned himself a new sponsor in the form of Parking Guidance Systems. With only eight top-10 finishes in his NASCAR career, Josh Williams may not be the most talented driver out there. But, the guy sure does know how to market a controversy.
