Life is tough, it’s full of soul-crushing moments, events that are irreversible, and feelings that never go away. But what does make it better is the support, empathy, and sympathy of our friends, our families, our loved ones, and our colleagues. But then there are times when an entire community comes out to support you and share your grief, as the NASCAR community recently did for Josh Williams.

Williams announced the unfortunate demise of his “friend and brother,” Zach Gocher, as he penned a heartfelt note for him.

“This morning I found out I lost one of my best friends and one of the most hard-working and dedicated guys I have had work for me. Zach was a smart and meticulous guy always working to be better each day he worked for JWM,” he wrote. “He was one of my best friends and a brother to me In the past few years I don’t think we ever missed a day we didn’t talk about making JWM better as a company and he had the fire in him to make that happen.”

“I will miss you buddy each day and I make a promise to you we will get more wins more championships and keep building bad ass race cars in your memory!! Love you Zach I’ll meet you at the finish line some day!”

NASCAR community shares Josh Williams’ grief

One part of Williams’ note for his best friend’s passing mentioned how “everyone loved Zach in the racing community.” 

This point is worth mentioning because the out-pour of tributes and love after his passing from the NASCAR community stood as a testament to the point Josh Williams made.

Truck Series driver, Ryan Vargas wrote, “I got to work with Zach a few years ago during the ARCA test with
@MotorsportsJw and always made sure to chat with him when I could. A good dude and I’m so heartbroken to hear this…”

Here are a few heartfelt things the fans had to say.

“gonna miss you @GocherZach one of the most genuine people i’ve ever met. busted his ass to do what he loved to do”

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“Sad day. @GocherZach was the crew chief for my son @AllenBobbyMares. We’re saddened by his passing, and will keep the @MotorsportsJw guys in our prayers”

“Very hard news to hear. Grateful for the times I had with him at JWM and DGM. Zach was a good friend and it was great to have someone else to talk to that was also in the beginning of their racing career. Very sad news, God speed Zach!”

Another Craftsman Truck Series driver, Spencer Boyd said, “Zach always had a smile! #GodSpeed thinking of family and JWM!”

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