Noah Gragson – No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass Tundra NCWTS Martinsville Advance

Event: Alpha Energy Solutions 250, Race 4 of 23, 250 Laps – 70/70/110; 131.5 Miles

Location: Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (0.526-mile oval)

Date/Broadcast: March 24, 2018 at 2 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90

What You Need to ‘Noah’bout

Noah Gragson returns to Martinsville (Va.) Speedway this week for the first time since picking up his first career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) victory last October. Gragson successfully used the outside lane to make his way past two-time NCWTS champion Matt Crafton on the final restart of the race and held off both Crafton and reigning series champion Johnny Sauter in the closing laps to pick up his first NASCAR National Series victory.

Gragson also had a strong run in last year’s spring event at ‘The Paperclip,’ coming from the ninth starting position to finish fourth in his track debut. The top-five finish marked his first in the NCWTS.

The Las Vegas native enters Saturday’s event ranked fourth in the NCWTS championship standings, 41 points behind Sauter. The 19-year-old driver has earned two playoff points through the first four races in 2018, winning the First Stage at both Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway and Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway. Gragson has led at least one lap in all four races this season and boasts a best finish of second at Atlanta.

Safelite AutoGlass, the nation’s largest provider of vehicle glass repair and replacement services, will adorn the hood of Gragson’s No. 18 Tundra for all 23 events on the NCWTS schedule in 2018.

How is it going to feel going back to the track where you got your first Truck Series win?

“I’m really excited to be going back to Martinsville for the first time since I won at that track last year. I like that track a lot — it’s a lot of fun from a driver’s standpoint. I like to treat it like a road course because there are a lot of flat corners and a lot of hard braking. On the road course, you have a lot of hard braking. You’re constantly trying to get down on that curb as a driver and get your left sides on the curb and then focus on accelerating off the corner and keeping the drive in the race vehicle. To get back to Martinsville with my Safelite AutoGlass No. 18 Tundra and my team I’m extremely excited.”

Are you going to do anything different this week to prepare your stomach in case you win again?

“I’m not going to do anything different as far as preparing my stomach — people are always messing with me about that. The reason why I threw up last year after the race was because I got out and I was cheering, I was all pumped up, I climbed up the fence, I got down all excited, they are picking me up and swinging me around and I still have my helmet on. Then all of the adrenaline wore off and I felt like I had just run 10 miles, sprinting. Instantly I’m about to throw up, so I tried throwing the helmet off. Hopefully, we don’t go down that road again and I don’t have to throw up, but I gave it all I had and pumped up the crowd too. Looking forward to getting back to Martinsville and ready to have some fun.”

Noah Gragson Career Highlights:

In 28 career NCWTS starts has collected one win, three poles, 243 laps led, five top-five and 14 top-10 finishes.
Gragson finished 10th in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) championship standings in 2017 after collecting one win, three poles, 187 laps led, four top-five and 13 top-10 finishes in his rookie campaign. He earned his first NCWTS victory last October at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway outdueling series veterans Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton in the closing laps.
The NASCAR Next alum also competed in three events for KBM’s Super Late Model team in 2017, highlighted by his triumph in the prestigious ARCA/CRA Super Series Winchester 400 at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway in October.
He opened his 2018 season with a seventh-place finish in the ARCA Racing Series season opener at Daytona. After starting in the 21^st position, he raced inside the top five for most of the event before coming home in the seventh spot.
The Las Vegas native has collected four NASCAR K&N Pro Series West victories across 27 career starts and two NASCAR K&N Pro Series East victories across 15 career starts.

Noah Gragson’s No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass Tundra:

KBM-24: The No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass team will unload KBM-24 for Saturday’s Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The Tundra has three victories in 10 career starts, including a trip to the winner’s circle in its most recent outing last September with Christopher Bell at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.

KBM-24 Performance Profile:

Starts	Wins	Average Start	Average Finish	Laps Led
10	3	2.9	11.1	525

KBM Notes of Interest

KBM drivers have recorded six wins, three poles, 748 laps led, 19 top-five and 29 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 8.2 across 40 career starts at Martinsville. Gragson picked up the organization’s most recent victory at the 0.526-mile oval last October. Denny Hamlin and Darrell Wallace Jr. each have collected two victories while Gragson and owner-driver Kyle Busch have one win.
The No. 18 team, which last year was the No. 4 team with Christopher Bell, has won five consecutive NCWTS Owner’s titles for KBM and has produced two championship-winning drivers (Erik Jones, 2015 and Christopher Bell, 2017).
The No. 18, which was the number that was on the first Tundra that went to victory lane for KBM in 2010, has 20 career victories
KBM holds the NCWTS records for most career wins (66) and most wins in a single season (14 in 2014). In addition to collecting a series-record six Owner’s Championships, the organization has produced two championship-winning drivers; Erik Jones (2015) and Christopher Bell (2017).

Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 18 Toyota Tundra 2018 NCWTS Box Score:

Date	Site	Driver	Start	Finish	Laps	Laps Led	Status	Driver Pts./Pos.
2/16	Daytona	Gragson	5	23	79/100	1	Accident	16/24th
2/24	Atlanta	Gragson	3	2	134/134	43	Running	67/4th
3/2	Las Vegas	Gragson	5	12	134/134	12	Running	107/4th