The 2018 season has been a stellar year so far for Noah Gragson, the young Las Vegas native, who has posted six top fives and 15 top-10 finishes, along with a win at Kansas in May, to put him in championship contention.
Stage wins and finishing in the top 10 for most stages gave him enough points to carry him from round to round. Since the Playoffs started, however, circumstances haven’t been too kind to the No. 18 Safelite Toyota driver.
Gragson was in contention to win at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park before making contact with his teammate relegating him to a ninth-place finish. At Las Vegas, he won the pole, but issues caught him one lap down to finish 18th. In Talladega, Gragson was leading on the last lap before getting turned around and making some airtime before settling back down to finish 13th.
Martinsville was a better showing for the Kyle Busch Motorsports team as he was up front and finished seventh. However bad luck caught Gragson again Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway.
On Lap 40, Gragson was involved in a big wreck that involved several others on the track. This saw him collect damage on the side of his truck leaving it tough to handle. However, he was able to rally back and finish in the top 10, but he wanted more and was somewhat disappointed with the finish. But, Gragson knows what to do next week at ISM Raceway.
“Just rough,” Gragson said to MRN Radio, describing his race. “Got set back on a pit stop and took fuel only. I could never get the balance right in traffic and just really struggled tonight. Got some damage on the right side. No excuse. I’m going to work my ass off this week and next week, and do whatever we have to do. Just unacceptable. Just got to get out there to Phoenix and go win that one.”
“Win,” the No. 18 driver told MRN Radio. “That’s it.”
With the 10th place finish at Texas, his 15th top 10 this season, Gragson sits fourth in the standings, just 22 points to the good.
