Armani Williams - NASCAR Driver

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For NASCAR driver Armani Williams the cockpit of a race car is his sanctuary.

"Being in a race car, it's just sort of like a comfort zone," said Armani.
"I just love being in it, just pushing it to the limit."

The 22-year-old is defying expectations and helping foster inclusivity as one of the few Black drivers in the sport, and as NASCAR's first driver to discuss his autism publicly.

"I wanted to prove to everyone that, you know, autism can be a strength, not a weakness."

Armani was diagnosed at two years old, and like other children on the spectrum, he was non-verbal during his first few years of life.

"He could say 'Mom', he could say 'Dad', but he didn't say much else," said Armani's father, Del Williams.

In addition to communication struggles, Armani's autism came with a hyperfocus on details, a trait that would later become a key to his success as a professional driver. With the support of speech and occupational therapy, Armani began thriving. His parents decided to sign him up for a two-week course at a nearby university that taught children with autism how to ride a bike.

"By the end of the first day, Armani was able to ride the bike without any training support or any balance support," said Del.

That's when they knew he had something special.

"It was the early signs that Armani showed about how courageous of a kid he is."
It was a local amusement park trip that revealed his passion for four wheels.
"They would have like a go-kart attraction, and after we rode around it for the first time, I wanted to keep going on it multiple times, like again and again and again," Armani explained.
He started collecting matchbox cars and watching NASCAR racing series on television.
"It amazed me how fast those cars were going; I'd never seen speed quite like this," Armani said.

"It became apparent to me that this is something that I wanted to do."

Armani could pick up the mechanics of the gas, brake pedals, and steering wheel quickly after attending go-kart racing school at Jackson Speedway. By the time he was eight years old, he was competitively racing go-karts.

From there, he went on to mini cup racing, a half-sized version of a professional stock car. During that time, he won 18 races and two championship titles.

Autistic people can experience sensory hypersensitivity and hyposensitivity. Armani's hypersensitivity to sound and touch has turned out to be an asset in racing, .
"Every driver has focus, but because I have autism, I have a laser-like focus; you have to almost like be the car," Armani explained.

Armani's hypersensitivity to sounds and touch alerts him to issues with the vehicle that other drivers may not even notice.

"It just happens in a way that maybe not a lot of people have seen before."

"That's a type of thing I use to make sure that I help give detailed information to my crew so that they can make the necessary adjustments they need to make to get the best out of the car," he says.

"It's bizarre, if I'm being honest, his ability to stay focused and tunnel vision on some things," Del said.

Armani competed in the ARCA Menards Truck Pro Series, a semi-pro league, at 16. There he became the highest finishing Black driver in both the series and the championship race in 2016.

That same year he was invited to a NASCAR drivers diversity program where he did well enough to compete in their Pinty's Series in Canada that next year as a professional driver.

In 2021, he made his debut in the states in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, the third-highest tier in the sport's series, finishing 21st.

As Armani matured, it didn't take him long to realize his power in his platform.
He always looked up to drivers like NASCAR cup series champion Jimmie Johnson and his work to support causes he cared about.

Armani is now shifting his gears between driver, student and advocate.

He's attending Oakland University to study mechanical engineering, a degree he hopes to use in retirement to help design, build, develop and test future race cars.

"I wanted to take that role in providing a lot of hope and inspiration for people in the autism community -- to inspire people to keep pushing forward and understand that you can do anything in this world that you set your mind to."

In many ways, Armani Williams is much like any other young race car driver trying to reach the highest levels of his profession. His goals for himself, and his sense of purpose and destiny, are directly tied to getting behind the wheel and pursuing a path to becoming the best that he can be. But for Williams, there is a significant way in which that path is different from his peers'.

Since 2017, Williams has put himself in the mix among up-and-coming NASCAR drivers through sporadic starts across the sport's regional and national touring series. But among his contemporaries, the 24-year-old from Grosse Pointe, Mich. is distinct in that he is a young man on the autistic spectrum. At 2 years old, Williams was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, a condition that has shaped his life and his development as a person -- but has hardly defined who he is or deterred him from what he wants to become.

"Whatever it took to try and reach to the highest level of racing that I could get, I was going to do everything possible to get there," Williams told CBS Sports. "Just knowing how much hard work, how much adversity I had to go through with autism as well as move up through the ranks of NASCAR -- I want people to know that I had to do it the hard way.

Nothing was given to me. Some people didn't give me a chance or didn't think where I am now was possible. I just always carried a positive energy, always continued to believe in myself and stay encouraged, because I understood what kind of God-given ability I was given and what I was destined to do -- which was be a race car driver."

Williams, one of a select few drivers in racing who are openly on the autistic spectrum, is set to make his second career start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series this weekend at Homestead-Miami after making his series debut earlier this year at New Hampshire. After select starts in the NASCAR Canada Series, ARCA and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Williams' move to the Xfinity level has been just one more step in a lifelong process of not only realizing his hopes and dreams, but also learning to do what is necessary to interact with the very world that can make that happen.

Like many on the autistic spectrum, Williams' upbringing involved a more deliberate and concentrated approach -- from speech and behavioral therapy to other forms of applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy -- to develop social skills that come more naturally to others. While no one person with autism is the same, many are tasked with reconciling what challenges their condition presents them -- socially, personally and otherwise -- with their own individuality and the sort of lives they want to lead.

Through racing, something he has loved since he was a child, Williams has come to understand this. It has availed him the opportunity to connect with others, and also to present himself in a way that aligns with his own ideals and ambitions. He credits NASCAR veteran and Canada Series champion D.J. Kennington with teaching him what it takes to be a professional in racing both on and off the track, and he looks to seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson as an example of the way he wants to conduct himself.

And by talking shop about racing, he has been able to connect with both his peers and those on the autistic spectrum -- such as British driver Bobby Trundley and Canadian racer Austin Riley -- as well as families whose children and loved ones live with the condition.

"To me, it was all about just me taking the initiative to make sure that I can get as much help as I possibly can and to improve and overcome the obstacles that I needed to overcome with the challenges of autism. And once I reached that point, I've never let the challenges of autism ever get to me," Williams said. "It has allowed me to open myself up as the kind of person I want to be, what kind of personality I want to become that can relate to other people.

"To me, because I loved racing so much as a kid and for a long time, being in the garage, whether that's talking with other drivers, my crew members, my crew chiefs, it helps when you have something in common with them that you can just have a lot of conversations, a lot of communication, a lot of social activity when they have the same interests as I do. To me, that's really what has helped me through a lot in racing."

Beyond the challenge of living with autism, the realities of being a race car driver themselves are also something for Williams to deal with. To this point in his career, he has yet to be able to race on a regular basis, instead having to settle for a piecemeal schedule of select starts -- to this point, no more than five in a season -- in NASCAR-sanctioned series.

Williams understands that this can be part of life in racing, and he credits his support system -- which includes sponsorship from BlueSprig, one of the nation's largest providers of ABA therapy -- with helping him continue to believe himself and push through to his next opportunity. The latest will come this weekend at Homestead, where he will drive the No. 35 BlueSprig Ford for Joey Gase Motorsports and continue to adjust to racing Xfinity cars after largely focusing on the Truck Series level since 2021, as well as to managing a race and keeping his composure whatever happens.

"There's moments in a race where there was a lot of things going on and it could've gotten the best of me and I would've done something to try to ruin my race. But knowing when you have a long race to go, no matter if things are going right or wrong, you've just got to keep your composure and find a way to battle through it and make it to the end," Williams said. "For me, it's just making sure I take care of those little things and not let those type of moments -- even if they're not right -- get the best of me and just make sure I keep pushing through. That's something that I look to take with me as we go into Homestead this weekend."

Looking toward 2025 and beyond, Williams said his goal is to race more often and to eventually race full-time, with his ultimate goal being to compete in the NASCAR Cup Series. And beyond his goals for himself, he also wants to provide "hope and inspiration" to those living with autism much like he does.