Current NASCAR Next driver Noah Gragson will join Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) in the Camping World Truck Series next season, CATCHFENCE.com has confirmed.
Gragson, who like team owner Kyle Busch is a native of Las Vegas, Nevada will take over the No. 9 Toyota team next season, replacing current championship contender William Byron. The truck number and sponsors are still pending.
Still in his senior year of High School, Gragson will do a soft relocation to North Carolina in early 2017 to be closer to the team. Upon graduation, he will make the move permanent.
“I’m very grateful for the opportunity to drive for Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2017,” Gragson told CATCHFENCE.com “They are a championship race team and I’m honored to learn from Kyle (Busch), one of the best in the industry. I’m also extremely appreciative to be a part of the Toyota Racing and TRD family and plan to make them all proud.”
Byron, who has won a whopping six races this year is moving to a fulltime ride in the XFINITY Series in 2017 with JR Motorsports as part of his driver contract with Hendrick Motorsports. KBM is seeking its second consecutive drivers championship in trucks after XFINITY Series driver Erik Jones won the crown in 2015.
On Thursday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Busch said current driver Christopher Bell would return for another fulltime season in 2017 and he had a replacement for Byron “in the works.” Busch added that his No. 51 Toyota, a third full-time effort would likely see a rotating list of drivers.
Gragson, 18, has won four NASCAR races this season – two each in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West driving for Jefferson Pitts Racing. Recently, he won three consecutive races, all on road courses in Utah and New Jersey.
Gragson finished fifth in the K&N East Series standings this year and he is currently ranked third in the West division leaning into next weekend’s finale at All-American Speedway in Roseville, Calif. Overall, the young phenom has earned six K&N wins over the last two seasons.
As reported first by CATCHFENCE.com, the former Bandolero and Late Model ace at Las Vegas Motor Speedway has also made two ARCA starts and will make his third career start next Friday night at Kansas Speedway for Venturini Motorsports (VMS).
Considered one of the strongest teams in ARCA, VMS has an alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing who has funneled Kyle Busch Motorsports drivers in the development series, including Byron who finished second and eighth in two ARCA starts this season at Daytona International Speedway and Pocono Raceway (June).
In May, Gragson was one of 11 drivers named to the 2016-2017 NASCAR Next program, an industry-wide initiative designed to showcase rising young stars in racing. Gragson, however, will be ineligible next year as a participant being a full-time driver in one of NASCAR’s top three national divisions.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
