● Noah Gragson has made four NASCAR Cup Series starts at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, with his most recent being his best. In early May, Gragson qualified third and finished ninth in the Cup Series’ first Kansas stop of the 2024 season. It was a complete weekend, with Gragson bettering his previous best starting spot of 22nd (earned in May 2023) and his previous best finishing position of 18th (earned twice in his May and September Cup Series starts at Kansas in 2022).
● Gragson has five NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Kansas and, collectively, they are emblematic of his growth as a racecar driver. The Las Vegas native finished 13th in his first Xfinity Series start at Kansas in October 2019 and then scored a 15th-place finish in his return to the 1.5-mile oval in July 2020. Two strong runs at Kansas followed in October 2020 and October 2021 when Gragson led a total of 22 laps, but crashes left him with finishes of 36th and 35th, respectively. But in Gragson’s fifth and final Xfinity Series start at Kansas, he put a whole race together and punctuated it with an exclamation point. In September 2022, Gragson qualified fifth and then led three times for 20 laps, including the final 18, to take the victory. It was the 10th of his 13 career Xfinity Series wins.
● Before that NASCAR Xfinity Series triumph at Kansas, Gragson had already put his name on the track’s list of winners. In May 2018, in his second and final NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start at Kansas, Gragson dominated. He won the pole with a lap of 30.564 seconds at 176.678 mph and proceeded to lead five times for a race-high 128 laps, pacing the field for all but 39 of race’s 167 laps.
● Gragson’s Kansas debut came in the ARCA Menards Series. On Oct. 14, 2016, an 18-year-old Gragson started eighth and finished fifth in the Kansas 150.
● Riding along with Gragson in the Hollywood Casino 400 is Anastasia Vessel. Via a decal over the passenger-side window of Gragson’s No. 10 Ford Mustang Dark Horse, Vessel’s cancer battle is being highlighted by the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation’s and the NASCAR Foundation’s Honor a Cancer Hero program. Vessel was diagnosed with cancer six months after her wedding, but after going through chemotherapy and radiation, Vessel has since tested cancer free. She was nominated for the Honor a Cancer Hero program by her husband, Jack.
● Bed Bath & Beyond adorns Gragson’s No. 10 Ford Mustang Dark Horse at Kansas. The partnership celebrates Bed Bath & Beyond as the ultimate online destination for home essentials, featuring an unmatched assortment for every room of the house. Whether it’s your kitchen, bedroom, outdoor space or bathroom, Bed Bath & Beyond has what you need to create a space that feels uniquely yours. From cookware and bedding to bath accessories and beyond, Bed Bath & Beyond is your go-to source for functional and stylish home essentials.
Noah Gragson, Driver of the No. 10 Bed Bath & Beyond Ford Mustang Dark Horse
You qualified third and finished a solid ninth when you raced at Kansas back in May. How did that race go for you and what can you take from it and apply to your return to Kansas this weekend?
“I hope we have the same kind of speed. We qualified third, finished ninth and ran in the top-10 pretty much the majority of the whole race. Had really good speed in practice. I think we were fourth in practice overall. It seemed like we had really good pace that race. I just showed up and I didn’t do anything different than what I do any other week. Our Ford Mustang Dark Horse just drove faster and I had more speed. I hope it translates again when we go back to Kansas this weekend.”
How much of a factor is the wind at Kansas?
“I haven’t really noticed the wind too much at any racetrack. I know it gets pretty bad at Vegas and some other tracks, but I don’t really feel it too much in the car. A lot of guys are pretty sensitive to it, but I haven’t been able to notice it in huge amounts.”
You have five starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Kansas. Those first four starts were a bit of a struggle, but that fifth start was impressive. You qualified fifth and led three times for 20 laps, including the final 18, to take the win. How did you do it, and how satisfying was it to take the checkered flag?
“It was either hit or miss there. We always ran well there but never finished well. But once I finally figured out how to put a whole race together, we ended up getting a win. The same thing happened in Trucks, too. The first year I went there, we had decent speed but just didn’t capitalize on the entirety of the day. It’s a fun track and, to be able to put it all together, it’s good.”
That Xfinity Series win at Kansas was not your first win there. You won a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Kansas in 2018, and pretty handily too. You won the pole and led five times for a race-high 128 laps, and the race only went 167 laps. It was just your second-ever start at the track and you beat your boss at the time, Kyle Busch. How did you do it?
“It was probably bigger just to win the race, in general. It was definitely a little sweeter because Kyle was in it, but we had a lot of speed that year and, once again, didn’t capitalize on the races where we had that speed and had shots to win. I got the pole, we won the first stage, the second stage, and ultimately won the race, so it was kind of a perfect day, a perfect weekend. That was a pretty cool moment.”
You ran an ARCA race at Kansas in 2016 and finished fifth. At that time, it was one of the bigger tracks you had raced on. What were you experiencing as an 18-year-old competing at Kansas?
“It was crazy. I never dealt with aero too much and having to move myself around, so learning on the fly and trying to figure that out and how to position your car just so you could have the best aero positioning was big, and that place was fast, learning how to drive around that place. I wish I could go back to that day knowing what I know now, I probably would’ve won that race. But with that being said, I was doing all I could to try and figure it out on the fly, and as I’ve gained experience, I’ve definitely learned a lot since that day.”
● Event: Hollywood Casino 400 (Round 30 of 36)
● Time/Date: 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Sept. 29
● Location: Kansas Speedway in Kansas City
● Layout: 1.5-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 267 laps/400.5 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 80 laps / Stage 2: 85 laps / Final Stage: 102 laps
● TV/Radio: USA / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
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