CONCORD, N.C.: Early in Saturday afternoon’s Alsco Uniforms 300 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, Noah Gragson showcased his ability to contend for his third NASCAR Xfinity Series race of the season, but the JR Motorsports soon developed a problem under the hood of his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro that would plague him throughout the 200-lap race.
Gragson took the lead from Ryan Preece on Lap 4 of the race and would lead the next 32 laps until Brandon Brown spun in Turn 4, igniting the race’s third caution.
By the time Stage 1 ended on Lap 45, Gragson had reported that he felt like he was losing power. With the direction of crew chief Luke Lambert, the No. 9 JR Motorsports team began inspecting the car at the end of the stage trying to diagnose the issue.
Unable to find a clear answer to the lack of horsepower, Gragson returned to the track for Stage 2 at the rear of the field. As the race marched forward and with Stage 2 littered with cautions, the numerous caution laps were able to help the JR Motorsports team determine that Gragson had lost one of the cylinders in the engine.
Despite being trapped a lap down at the end of Stage 2, Gragson was able to utilize the momentum of the high lane and resin at Charlotte Motor Speedway to keep his race car wound up and charge through the field where he found himself battling Jeb Burton for the free pass on the last lap of Stage 2.
Burton won the beneficiary by inches but with some speed returning to his race car, Gragson was able to return to the lead lap after fellow Las Vegas, Nev. native Riley Herbst crashed in Turn 4 on Lap 104.
Throughout Stage 3 and with a wounded engine, Gragson would continue to steadily and patiently work his way forward and returned to the top-10 on Lap 128.
Green flag pit stops would begin a short time later with Gragson moving to the top for the second time of the afternoon for four laps on Lap 159. He would then pit – surrendering the lead to JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier on Lap 163.
Over the final 37 laps of the race, Gragson would continue to nurse his engine but diligently move forward and chase down Preece for fourth over the final 15 laps of the race. Moving into fourth, Gragson set his sights on teammate Sam Mayer for a podium finish but ran out of laps and took the checkered flag in fourth, 19.856 seconds behind teammate Josh Berry.
“Just a bummer but everyone on this team worked hard, even with the cylinder down,” said Gragson after the race. “Congratulations to Josh Berry. That’s really cool to see him. We’ll battle on, reassess. Just super proud of our team.
“Days like today you could quit. That’s not an option for us. We’re here to fight for a championship and days like today build you up character wise. To come back for a top-five finish, super proud of everyone.
“The confidence is still high; we just need all the puzzle pieces to align and we’ll be alright.”
With his ninth top-five finish of the season, Gragson heads to the inaugural Xfinity Series race at Portland International Speedway seconds in points, 33 points behind AJ Allmendinger.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
