DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.: It’s a new scenery for Noah Gragson in the NASCAR Cup Series at Front Row Motorsports, but the Las Vegas, Nev. native would love nothing more than to come out of the box swinging with a coveted win in Sunday’s DAYTONA 500.
While the popular driver has landed at a new home that will field three Cup Series teams in 2025, many of the faces are familiar, which gives Gragson the confidence that he can produce significant results aboard his No. 4 Ford Mustang this season.
“Yeah, we wanna just minimize the mistakes,” Gragson said Wednesday afternoon during Daytona 500 Media Day. “I think that’s the goal we have set. (We want to) maximize the opportunity and minimize the mistakes, and when you get to week 20 of this deal, the motivation tends to get lost a little bit, no matter who it is — the driver, a team member, or a pit crew (member).
“It wears and tears on you, so just being able to stay motivated each and every week, and we wanna have strong runs. We go to the race track to win every race, but you know, sometimes that’s not in the cards for that race weekend, so with that being said, we want to just maximize the opportunity that we got, each and every given weekend.”
Gragson can’t predict how his 2025 season and his fourth appearance in the DAYTONA 500 will unfold, but the reassurance of having crew chief Drew Blickensderfer back on top of the pit box for the second consecutive Cup Series does provide some comfort ahead of his second full-time Cup Series season.
“It’s been really smooth on my side of things,” explained Gragson. “I know trying to get cars and haulers and all that stuff, starting up at third team has been a little bit of a challenge for the team in itself, but for myself personally, it’s been really, really smooth, much smoother than it’s ever been and a lot of that, is I have the same crew chief, so we’re already on the same page.
“When I get inside the race car, all my interior stuff, where the wheel is located, all the measurements, that’s all the same. So, when I sat in the Bowman Gray car and went out for first practice, I felt like I didn’t even skip a beat from how we ended the season at Phoenix, just with how comfortable I was behind the wheel and whatnot.
“With all that being said, we do have some new crew members on our team, so I feel like there’s a lot of energy that we got, a lot of passion with our group and it’s exciting stuff!”
As for Sunday’s 200-lap race, Gragson feels he will have a chance of earning his first career Cup Series win, hoisting the Harley J. Earl Trophy, but, more importantly, likely earn his No. 4 Front Row Motorsports team a Playoff spot come September.
“Yeah, I absolutely think here, especially since you have an opportunity to win the race,” sounded Gragson. “They showed a graphic during practice of the past Daytona winners, and if you look at where guys finished the points last year, it’s a mix-up throughout the entire lineup. So, it’s certainly doable to win the race.
“Now, once we get to Phoenix in Vegas, I don’t know yet. I haven’t been on tracks like that (with Front Row Motorsports).
“If you asked me this question and six or seven weeks from now, I probably have a different answer, but right now, I’m just so focused on our process and having the excitement to see, hey, where are we gonna stack up against these guys, but having the opportunity to come out here each and every week, we’ve got great resources with Team Penske.
“We have great resources within our own organization. It’s just about working hard each and every day and getting closer to our goals.”
In Wednesday morning’s first NASCAR Cup Series practice of the season, Gragson turned the eighth-fastest lap and quickest among the Front Row Motorsports contingent.
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