● Noah Gragson brings his quiet consistency to Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway this weekend for the Coke Zero Sugar 400. The 25-year-old Las Vegas native has finished among the top-20 in five of the last six NASCAR Cup Series races, the most recent of which was a 12th-place drive last Sunday at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.
● Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 gives Gragson the opportunity to extend another streak. In the two superspeedway races held this year – the season-opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 19 and the GEICO 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on April 21 – Gragson has finished ninth and third, respectively. He is one of just three drivers who have scored top-10 finishes at both Daytona and Talladega this year, with the others being William Byron (first at Daytona and seventh at Talladega) and Alex Bowman (second at Daytona and fifth at Talladega.)
● The Coke Zero Sugar 400 will mark Gragson’s fifth NASCAR Cup Series start at Daytona. The driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart-Haas Racing earned his best result at the high-banked, 2.5-mile oval when he finished fifth in the 2022 Coke Zero Sugar 400. It was Gragson’s first top-five and it came in just his 11th career Cup Series start.
● Gragson earned his second career top-five in April at Talladega, the 2.66-mile oval that is a sister track to Daytona. His third-place finish was the best of his still young NASCAR Cup Series career, as it came in just his 49th start.
● Gragson has made 12 starts at Daytona outside of the NASCAR Cup Series. He has eight NASCAR Xfinity Series starts and two apiece in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series.
● Gragson’s first career NASCAR Xfinity Series win came at Daytona in the 2020 season opener. He started 12th and led twice for 15 laps, including the final two, to take the victory over Harrison Burton. Gragson also owns four other Xfinity Series finishes of 15th or better at Daytona, including a third-place drive in the 2022 season opener and a seventh-place finish in August 2021.
● In two career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts at Daytona, Gragson got a taste of Daytona’s fickle nature. He completed just one lap in the 2017 season opener before getting taken out in an accident. He then made only 79 of the race’s 200 laps in the 2018 season opener when another multi-vehicle accident ended his day.
● Seventh is Gragson’s best ARCA Menards Series result at Daytona, earned in the 2018 season opener.
● The 2024 season marks the 15th year of partnership between Rush Truck Centers and Stewart-Haas Racing, and it’s a partnership that goes well beyond a design on a racecar. All Stewart-Haas racecars are transported via tractor-trailers from Rush Truck Centers, the premier service solutions provider to the commercial vehicle industry. And those tractor-trailers are supported by the RushCare Customer Support team of parts and service experts, who also provide concierge-level service for scheduling maintenance, technical support, mobile service dispatch and roadside assistance, along with help locating the nearest Rush Truck Centers dealer, and more. Rush Truck Centers is the largest network of commercial vehicle dealerships in North America with 150 locations in the United States and Ontario, Canada, and takes pride in its integrated approach to customer needs – from vehicle sales to aftermarket parts, service and body shop operations, plus financing, insurance, leasing and rental, as well as alternate fuel systems and other vehicle technologies.
Noah Gragson, Driver of the No. 10 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Ninth in the Daytona 500. A career-best third in April at Talladega. What are your expectations for your return to Daytona this weekend, and can you keep the momentum going at these big, drafting-style racetracks?
“I’m definitely excited to get back to a superspeedway. I had my best finish of third at Talladega this year. I really like drafting and I like superspeedways. It is somewhat of a crapshoot, but everybody’s got equal speed in their cars and you can really control your own destiny on how you choose your lanes and what lines you go with. You definitely hold a lot more weight behind the wheel on your decision-making throughout the weekend. There’s a lot of skill involved with superspeedway racing, so I’m excited for Daytona.”
What’s been the secret to your performance this year at Daytona and Talladega?
“I think just being smart and being patient. You definitely want to be aggressive and get to the front. I always want to get to the front at a superspeedway and be able to control the lines and be up in that front row leading the line or being second. But if I can’t get there, because sometimes it’s like a roadblock out there and you just can’t physically get to the front, I’ll just cruise around in the back and wait for them to wreck. It depends on what part of the race it is, but definitely starting that third stage, I want to be able to get track position. I want to have that track position at the start. And if we are in the back, I want to get up to the front as soon as I can because I know the intensity of the race ramps up as those stages and the race come to a close. Being able to get to the front early in the stage is definitely important to me as a driver. Those are the tendencies I look for.”
Describe the intensity of racing at Daytona, especially with it being the second-to-last race of the regular season where, for many, it’s the last chance to earn a playoff berth.
“The Daytona 500 is obviously a big race and people want to win that probably more than any other race, so they’re willing to make risky moves. But right before the end of the regular season, coming close to that cutoff line, guys are more likely to be more aggressive, too. It’s going to be exciting, and it’s going to be crazy under the lights. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
What’s the patience level of drivers who are racing at Daytona in August compared to the Daytona 500 in February when there’s still an entire season ahead of everyone?
“I think you can look at it two ways. When we’re starting the Daytona 500, if I wreck, I still have 35 opportunities to win a race. But for me, personally, when I go to the Daytona 500, I want to roll across the start-finish line and have a good day, start the season out with points, go into the second race of the year in a good qualifying group and in a good order. When you start toward the back, there’s a lot that’s involved with that. And I also think that’s the flipside of the Daytona race in August, as well. Do I want to be super aggressive and go for the win, and if I wreck, I wreck? Is that the mindset to have? Or is it, ‘Hey we’re going to try to be patient and methodical and get to the end of this thing because you still might have a shot?’ There are two ways to look at it. I probably look at it the same on both of them. I want to be up front and be aggressive to get up there, but if I don’t feel comfortable in the pack of cars I’m in, or if I’m in the middle of the pack, it seems like it’s easy to get swept up in the chaos. I think guys will be aggressive. I certainly try to be as aggressive as I can, but I also try to be as patient and as smart as I can be.”
Does blocking remain the necessary evil it’s seemingly always been when it comes to superspeedway racing?
“I think there’s always blocking, especially if you’re leading the line. But it’s harder to punch through the air and get to a guy’s back bumper. As the lead car, you’re almost lifting off the corner to get the guy attached behind you and have him pushing you when you get to the flat down the back straightaway. Off of turn four, you kind of lift out of the gas so he can get locked up with you so he can push you down the straight straightaways. If you get too far of a lead and the cars in second and third are hooked up, they’re coming with a massive run, so yeah, you’re blocking. But it’s not like it used to be maybe three or four years ago where you’d see those guys get massive runs and hit the leader and the leader will go to block them. The runs don’t come as fast in this NextGen car, so blocking is definitely a lot easier to stall out the momentum of the guy behind you.”
When you finish the second stage at Daytona, is there a sense of accomplishment because you’ve avoided the Big One to that point?
“You don’t really get that sense until you cross the start-finish line when the checkered flag is waving at the end of the race. You could start the third stage and be wiped out on a restart, or something else happens, like you make a bad move. There’s no sense of accomplishment until you cross the start-finish line under your own power. You want to stay out of the mess. Anything can happen on any given lap.”
On the last lap of a race at Daytona, how smart do you need to be and how lucky do you need to be, as it seems those last 2.5 miles are the most treacherous part of the race?
“You’re spending the whole race trying to see what your car’s tendencies are, where they’re better and where they’re weak. You’re trying to figure out where you’re getting big runs and where guys around you are getting runs on you. You’re setting up a plan the whole race to where, if you’re in that position to be leading the race, or running second or wherever you’re running, you’re setting up a plan and you’re gathering information throughout the whole race. So you definitely have to be very, very focused and aware of your surroundings, and be in rhythm and in sync with your spotter to be able to paint a good picture. Your spotter has to paint a good picture so you can make the right moves. They always ask, ‘What’s the best position to be in coming to the white flag? Do you want to be second or do you want to be leading?’ I’d like to be leading. I feel like I can control a lot more, but it’s a different situation every single race. You just try to learn in every single race on what’s going on, and if you get put in that situation again, you’ll be ready for it.”
● Event: Coke Zero Sugar 400 (Round 25 of 36)
● Time/Date: 7:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday, Aug. 24
● Location: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway
● Layout: 2.5-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 160 laps / 400 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 35 laps / Stage 2: 60 laps / Final Stage: 65 laps
● TV/Radio: NBC / MRN Radio / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
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