By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
After winning the first stage and finishing third in the second, the World of Westgate 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was the race where luck appeared to be turning around for Noah Gragson.
However, Gragson was unable to close the deal once again.
On lap 109, Gragson made contact Brett Moffitt which cut down his tire. As he was trying to make his way down the pit lane, he was penalized for making a commitment line violation.
Unfortunately, Gragson was unable to recover the turmoil.
“I just got used up by the 16 (Brett Moffitt) and cut a left front tire down, got two laps down and could never get them back. Felt like we were out of contention and just threw away another one,” Gragson stated in frustration post-race.
Before the contact that ended his night, Gragson knew that he had a strong truck that could have contended for the race win.
“It was really strong. Just taking my time and working my way up. Started getting really loose and slid up like three grooves and then had the contact with the left front on exit. It was like I wasn’t even there, but we’ll race them the way they raced us and won’t give anything,” he said.
With a month off before the final race of the first round of the Playoffs at Talladega Superspeedway, Gragson finds himself 23 points above the cutoff line to advance to the second round.