By Dustin Albino

Josh Williams has found a new home for the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, shifting over to BJ McLeod Motorsports as the full-time driver of the No. 78 car. 

Last month, DGM Racing announced Williams wouldn’t return to the team after spending the last five seasons together and recording eight top-10 finishes. 

A lot of people are probably going to think I‘m crazy, but they don‘t understand the bigger picture that I‘m trying to achieve,” Williams told Jayski.com.

Williams believes the No. 78 team, which had six different drivers and finished 28th in the owner’s standings this past year, will surprise people in 2022. 

“I think you‘re going to see us run right where we‘ve been running,” Williams added. “That top 12 to 20, I think that‘s where we‘re going to be every weekend. Next year is going to be really tough because there‘s a lot of good teams and a ton of money — I‘ve never seen so much money floating around the garage before since I‘ve been in NASCAR.

“It‘s going to be very tough, but I think we‘re putting the right pieces together and I think we‘re going to be in a position to run really well.”

The team has hired Danny Johnson to crew chief Williams. The duo worked together when Williams competed regularly in the ARCA Menards Series as a driver-owner. Johnson also helps assist Williams’ driver development program

Williams noted that all of his partners at DGM Racing — except for WORKPRO Tools, which is a DGM sponsor — will follow him over to BJMM. 

The move to BJMM potentially gives Williams a pathway to making starts in the Cup Series, as BJ McLeod is the co-owner of Live Fast Motorsports, which fields the No. 78 Ford. 

“I was looking for something to expand a little bit, grow a little bit and try to get somewhere where I could start running a couple of Cup races per year,” Williams said. “With the possibility that we‘ll find some partners that want to go full-time Cup racing, it just worked out that BJ has the Xfinity team and has his Cup team.”

Williams, who finished 15th and 18th in the Xfinity Series championship standings the last two seasons with DGM, is ready for a new beginning. He couldn’t think of anyone better to do it with than another Florida native in BJ McLeod. 

“We‘re both different in our own ways, but we‘re kind of the odd guys out,” Williams said of his relationship with McLeod. “We‘re not your typical NASCAR driver, either one of us. It‘s a good fit and we get along really well. We‘ve got the same vision on what the future needs to look like.”

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