NASCARNASCAR Cup SeriesNoah Gragson Nearly Steals the Show at Talladega Superspeedway

Noah Gragson Nearly Steals the Show at Talladega Superspeedway

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Noah Gragson was looking to spoil the party in search of his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory.

And he was willing to crash and burn for it.

“I’m good,” Gragson shared after his late race crash.

It wasn’t a fluke. Gragson stayed toward the front of the Geico 500 for the majority of the event. In the closing laps, leaders began running out of fuel and faced tire issues. That put the No. 42 Wendy’s Biggie Bag Camaro ZL1 in prime position to steal the win at Talladega Superspeedway.

Instead, Gragson got squeezed out of line and into the outside fence on Lap 189, credited with a 32nd place result.

“I got kind of shoved out there and bobbled a little bit by (Ross Chastain),” Gragson explained. “I just gotta look back and see what I could do better. Obviously not let the 1 get inside me. Overall it was a good day until it wasn’t.”

For the second time that Wendy’s has sponsored the Las Vegas native, he has been a prime contender for the hardware. Despite all the hard work, preparation and talent to drive in the world’s premier stock car, the superspeedway races need a shuffle of luck to bring the team into Ruoff Mortgage Victory Lane.

“The results have sucked here lately, but we’ve been running strong,” he continued. “We ran in the top-five, the top-10 all day and I’m really proud of that. I appreciate Wendy’s and everybody coming out to Talladega and all the fans. It was a really solid day for our Wendy’s Biggie Bag team and Legacy Motor Club. This 42 team was really on top of it today. Good pit stops and a fast car there in the race. I felt like we were in a good position restarting on the front row on a green-white-checkered.”

Last year’s Most Popular Driver in the NASCAR Xfinity Series continues his rookie efforts next weekend at Dover Motor Speedway in the Würth 400 where Gragson will make his first career Cup start at the Monster Mile.

And he stays optimistic for his Legacy Motor Club team.

“We’re close. We’ll get there one day.”

Justin Schuoler
Justin Schuoler
Justin’s experience starts back in the mid-90s racing dirt bikes and ATVs. He won a local championship in 1999, and competed in multiple endurance grand prix races across Southern California. In 2015, he shifted from two wheels to four wheels, winning his first sprint kart race and finishing second in that championship. Now he works as a race official with that very club while working on making a comeback to the track. Simultaneously, his journalism career began with NASCAR and Supercross. First started with Speedway Media, he now works as the web developer and tech manager for Kickin’ the Tires. He met his significant other at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and after he and Rachel married in 2018, they together have covered west coast races in karting, Supercross, NASCAR, drag racing, dirt racing, World of Outlaws, and even a visit to his original motocross club.
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