(NewsNation) — At 23, Armani Williams lives life at 180 mph while holding a unique platform as NASCAR’s first openly autistic driver fueled by the motivation to make a difference.
Williams was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at age 2, becoming one of 75 million people worldwide and 1 in every 100 children who are diagnosed with the condition, according to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention.
Behind the wheel in a 130-degree NASCAR cockpit, Williams has found a meaningful space that provides him a platform to encourage others living with autism to dream big.
Yet, Williams, who is Black, is doing so in a world that has long been largely dominated by white drivers and owners. In NASCAR’s 76-year history, only three Black drivers, Wendell Scott, Bubba Wallace and Rajah Caruth, have posted victories in more than 2,800 national series races.
Williams dreams of one day adding his name to that list.
While he’s chased his professional racing aspirations for much of his life, Williams is still finding his way. After competing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and Menard’s ARCA Series on a limited basis, Williams is now focused on finding a full-time sponsor on NASCAR’s Xfinity Series.
He has already raced at Daytona International Speedway, where he was running well until he got caught up in a crash on the race’s penultimate lap, moving closer to checking off bucket list destinations is proof Williams is exactly where he needs to be.
Williams wants to build on that experience and someday race in the sport’s largest events, like this weekend’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
“Now I’m living a dream of (doing) everything I grew up wanting to do,” Williams told NewsNation. “Really, it’s just about continuing to find the opportunities to make sure I’m out there on the racetrack more often than not.”
Living with autism, chasing NASCAR
His father, Del Williams, gets emotional when he watches his son live out his auto racing dream in ways he never imagined was possible.
“It’s hard to describe just how proud I am of him for just having a dream and just doing everything he possibly can to make it happen,” Del told NewsNation.
Williams was in middle school before his parents explained what he had been living with.
Del and Williams’ mother, Irena Politano, allowed their son’s instincts and high-speed dreams to dictate their navigational process. They relied on resources from organizations like Autism Speaks for guidance, but said that ultimately, Williams guided Del and his wife through the journey as much as they directed their son.
“All we had to do was to pay attention to what he wanted to do and just support that,” Del said.
That led the family to their local Go-Kart track. Williams quickly developed a laser-focused interest in cars and racing.
That attraction intensified when his parents gave him tickets to the Daytona 500 for Christmas when Williams was 11 (even though the race rained out for the first time in its history).
Away from the track, Williams struggled to understand why he was different from his peers and why he found difficulty connecting with and making friends with other kids. As much as he tried to understand his disorder, he found things that made sense when he was behind the wheel of a car.
But because of his autism, Williams says he still views racing from a different perspective, shifting him into a different lane of experiencing the sport in ways that provide direction rather than distractions both in his racing strategy and his desire to win.
“I’m just always focused on every time just getting into the racecar and just pushing the car to the absolute limit,” Williams said.
Navigating NASCAR as a Black driver
For Del, his son’s…
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