LAS VEGAS, Nev. – After struggling in the first two NASCAR Xfinity Series races this season, Noah Gragson delivered a big top-five performance in Saturday afternoon’s Boyd Gaming 300 at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway.
Throughout much of the race, Gragson in his No. 9 Switch Chevrolet Camaro hovered inside the top-10 – but Gragson saw an opportunity in a second NASCAR overtime to use the outline and gain two positions to finish third in his first Xfinity Series race at his hometown track.
“It felt really good to finish third, but we want more as a team,” said Gragson. “We kept working our tails off to get up there. It’s just a privilege to race out here in front of your hometown crowd. It means a lot to me. This is a big race for me.
“Being here from Las Vegas and to finish third, we still got a lot of work to do but I have a great team behind me and we’re going to keep our heads up.”
Gragson credited the work of his JR Motorsports team and the leadership of crew chief David Elenz to get his car handling better throughout the day. By the end of the race, Gragson was able to avoid a Lap 206 melee and utilized the outside lane in the two-lap shootout to earn his best Xfinity finish since finishing fourth at Talladega Superspeedway last April.
“I had a fast Switch Chevrolet Camaro, that’s all it came down to it,” added Gragson. “We made positive adjustments throughout the whole race and had it when it counted on the money stop.
“Restarted on the outside behind my teammate Michael Annett and then gave him a good push and then got to the outside and was able to roll the top. “I started rolling the top about midway through the race and started to pick up, learning and figuring it out.”
Rising to 10th in the championship standings heading to ISM Raceway next weekend, Gragson is on a mission as he adjusts to fulltime life in the Xfinity Series.
“Just taking notes in my brain, trying to learn,” sounded Gragson. “We have one goal and that’s to get to Homestead. This is great motivation for our Switch – JRM team just need to keep our heads down and keep on digging.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
