Ford Racing Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Ford Racing Zoom Media Availability
Wednesday, September 16, 2026
Earlier this week, Ford announced that tickets are on sale for the Inaugural Proud to Honor Veterans Day Classic, which is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, Nov. 11 at Daytona International Speedway. The event will include a race on the road course with the Mustang Dark Horse R and 12 Ford Racing drivers that will be divided into teams of two to represent all six branches of the military.
In addition, Zac Brown Band will be performing, along with other musical artists that will be announced at a later date. Donations will go directly to six nonprofits supporting the military and veteran community: Blue Star Families, Camp Southern Ground, Disabled American Veterans, TAPS, Team Rubicon and the Travis Manion Foundation.
Tickets for the event can be purchased via Ticketmaster and through the official website – www.fordveteransdayclassic.com.
One of the confirmed drivers for the event is Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang Dark Horse in the NASCAR Cup Series. He spoke about participating in the event, along with this weekend’s annual Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
NOAH GRAGSON, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO COMPETE IN AN EVENT LIKE THIS THAT HONORS ALL OF OUR SERVICE MEMBERS? “It’s gonna be fun to have that opportunity to race on the Daytona road course and really go up against other disciplines of motorsports. There’s gonna be a wide variety of drivers out there. We’re gonna raise some good money for a lot of good groups and organizations and just have some fun. It’s gonna be televised, which is really cool, but also for those trying to get out to the racetrack in Daytona it’s gonna be an action-packed day and I’m really looking forward to it.”
HAVE YOU EVER COMPETED IN A SPORTS CAR LIKE THESE MUSTANG DARK HORSE Rs? “I’m going in very open-minded. As we get closer I’ll probably start hearing more about the format, but I’m just gonna go and try to have as much fun as possible.”
DO YOU THINK IT WOULD BE GOOD TO HAVE THE RETURN OF AN IROC STYLE RACE SERIES? “Yeah. I think it would certainly be really cool to bring that back. I know they kind of tried with SRX and trying to just get different disciplines of motorsports and different guys and gals from whatever their respective series are out on the track. It seemed like it was going OK there for a little bit. I don’t know what really happened with the SRX deal, but I think it would be great to have some type of series like that back again, where you could kind of cross collaborate and get everybody into the same vehicle.”
YOU TALKED EARLIER THIS YEAR ABOUT NOT BEING ABLE TO SHOW YOUR PERSONALITY. DO YOU FEEL THAT’S CHANGED OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS? “Yeah, I feel like I can show it.”
NEW HAMPSHIRE, RICHMOND AND IOWA, IT SEEMS YOU GUYS HAVE FOUND SOMETHING AT THOSE TYPE OF TRACKS. DOES THAT GIVE YOU SOME CONFIDENCE GOING INTO BRISTOL THIS WEEKEND? “I don’t know. I mean, we were OK there for a three-week span. You look at Iowa, we had a strong weekend there. You go to Richmond and we had a decent weekend, and then New Hampshire we had a top 10 and ran good. Then we go to a track like Gateway, which I would say is somewhat similar to those three tracks and we were horrible, so I don’t know. It’s kind of a flip of a coin and, for me, just seeing how the thing drives when I unload in practice.”
IS THERE ANYTHING IN PARTICULAR THAT IS TOP OF MIND AS A PRIORITY FOR YOU AS YOU MOVE INTO NEXT SEASON? “Yeah, I think just learning more about ourselves and trying to become better each and every day.”
HOW DIFFICULT IS IT NOT BEING IN THE CHASE AND HOW DO YOU LOOK AT THIS PERIOD WHERE A LOT OF ATTENTION IS ON THE DRIVERS WHO ARE? “Unfortunately, it’s been pretty quiet for the last four years. Back when we were winning a lot and had good success I fed off that energy and I enjoyed that, so I don’t know if the Chase this year is gonna be much different than any other time. It just seems like when you run good, you get recognized and we just have to start running better.”
FEEDING OFF THE ENERGY IS INTERESTING. IF YOU DON’T HAVE THAT ENERGY, DOES IT MAKE IT HARDER? “Yeah. In the lower ranks when you’re in the best stuff, you know you have an opportunity the next weekend. If this weekend goes bad, you always have next weekend and you know your cars are gonna be really, really fast, whereas here, it’s just tough. There’s a lot of great competitors and we’re just trying to make the most of what we’ve got.”
YOU HAVE TWO WINS IN THE O’REILLY SERIES, SO DOES ANY OF THAT TRANSLATE OVER JUST AS FAR AS LIKING BRISTOL AND YOU’RE GOOD THERE? “I’d like to think I’m good at Bristol, but in the Cup Series I have a best finish of 12th. I can win in other stuff there, but just can’t run good in a Cup car there for, I think, obvious reasons.”
HOW DO YOU LOOK AT BRISTOL IN GENERAL? “I look forward to going there. I look forward to the electric atmosphere of Bristol Motor Speedway. I look forward to just how unique that racetrack is with the high banks of the corners. It’s a tight little track with it being a half mile, but with it being the Last Great Colisseum it’s definitely a lot of fun to walk in there and just see 360 degrees of grandstands. I mean, you almost get lost when you go around the racetrack trying to remember what side of the track you’re on. As I’ve gotten more experience there, I definitely know where I’m at, but my first time there I was like, ‘Man, am I in one and two or am I in turns three and four?’ It’s pretty intimidating the first time you go there, so I’m super excited to get there this weekend. The Bass Pro Shops Night Race is always a great time as far as just the energy with the crowd. The Fan Zone is always pumping out there, so we get to do our own walk out songs, which is super cool as well, so I’m looking forward to all of that.”
WHAT IS YOUR SONG TO WALK OUT TO? “It’s the Mockingbird & the Crow by Hardy and it goes, ‘You’re too loud. You’re too proud. It won’t work. Well, tell that to 25,000 rednecks with my dumb face on their t-shirt.’”
WHAT KEEPS YOU FRESH AND MOTIVATED TO KEEP GOING, EVEN WHEN YOU’RE HAVING STRUGGLES? “Just knowing that I can do it and believing in myself, and just trying to be the best piece of the puzzle for our team and staying locked in and not just checking boxes, but just trying to be the best piece of the puzzle. It’s competition. That definitely motivates me as well.”
GRANT HUTCHENS IS A NEW CREW CHIEF. HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK HE’S PLAYED A ROLE IN HELPING YOU OUT AND PREPARING EACH WEEK? “We’ve had a lot of conversations this year and we’re just trying to get better every week.”
WHAT KIND OF RACE DO YOU THINK WE’LL SEE THIS WEEKEND? “I’ve been wrong the last five times we’ve been there. The first time I said, ‘Oh, it’s gonna be a normal race,’ and then we had tires shredding. Then we went back and the thing went green when I thought we were gonna have a tire shredder race. Either way, when I think it’s gonna be a tire shredder race, it goes green. And whenever I think it’s gonna go green, it’s a tire shredder race, so it’s a flip of a coin right now.”
WHAT RACETRACK COMING UP DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE GONNA BE IN THE BEST EQUIPMENT AND GIVES YOU THE BEST CHANCE TO GET A GOOD FINISH? “Yeah, the road course race at Daytona with the Ford Mustang Dark Horse Rs that we’re racing for veterans out in Daytona on the Wednesday after Homestead. But Homestead should be a good one for us, too.”
DID YOU ASK TO BE PART OF THE VETERANS DAY CLASSIC OR DID FORD JUST PICK YOU? “Yeah, Ford picked me to do it. The spaces are obviously limited, so I’m very grateful that I was one of 12 guys and one of three or four NASCAR drivers who are able to do it, so it’s pretty cool to be part of that group.”
HOW COOL DO YOU THINK THAT EVENT WILL BE. DO YOU THINK PEOPLE WILL PAY ATTENTION TO IT AND IT’S SOMETHING THAT REALLY WORKS TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS? “Absolutely. It’s the first time Ford is doing this, so I try to go into it open-minded. I’m sure we’ll keep figuring out different avenues and what is going to make it even better in the coming years, but I’m definitely lucky to be a part of it. I haven’t really been able to do anything else like this with any other manufacturers and teams I’ve been with in the past, so it’s been really cool working with Ford, the Ford family, and the Ford Racing group because they’re always looking to do some pretty wild things and you never know what you’re getting into with Ford Racing. They’ve got some crazy ideas and some fun ones as well.”
