DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.: You don’t have to tell Noah Gragson that he has a lot of eyes on him heading into his first full season of NASCAR Cup Series competition with LEGACY MOTOR CLUB.
The driver of the No. 42 LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE invades the Cup Series tour on the strength of a blowout 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season which consisted of eight wins, 21 top-five and 26 top-10 finishes en route to a second-place finish in the championship race.
And while he may have felt pressure driving for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Gragson is now teamed up with L.M.C., which welcomed seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson to the ownership group in November.
That factor alone would be enough for any driver to feel pressure to perform, but the laidback driver from Las Vegas, Nev. doesn’t get buckled down in pressure — instead, he thrives on preparation – including for this weekend’s Daytona 500.
“No. I don’t really think so,” said Gragson when asked if he feels pressure. “There probably is. I don’t put pressure on myself to perform because I try to have as much fun as possible. I try to be prepared. Being prepared is the most important part and as long as I am prepared there shouldn’t be pressure to perform. Shouldn’t be nervous or anything.”
Gragson reverted back to basics for his explanation.
“It’s like taking a test,” he said. “When you go into a test in school and you study for it, you’re not going to be nervous but if you didn’t study, you’re probably going to be a little nervous and that’s where the pressure comes in.
“I feel like with Josh Wise, Luke Lambert and everyone on the Team Chevy program we have a really good system that we use to prepare for these races and I feel confident than ever.”
So while the pressure may be off his shoulders to perform, Gragson does have a realistic goal for 2023, including competing in his second Daytona 500.
“Finish every lap right now,” added Gragson. “I think that’s all you can do right now realistically. You obviously want to win, but I don’t know how realistic that is. We want to take the first 1/3 of the year, half the year, complete all the laps and then reevaluate from there.”
On Wednesday night, Gragson qualified his No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE 28th and will start near the back in his qualifying duel Thursday night – hoping to better his 39th place qualifying effort at the 2.5-mile superspeedway from a year ago.
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