NASCAR Next alumnus Noah Gragson has started to show off some of the skills in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series that earned him a spot in the program that spotlights NASCAR’s top young drivers.
The 18-year-old Las Vegas native has logged two top-10 finishes in his last two races after a slow start to the season due to some crashes and spins in the early events.
He’ll try to continue his recent success in Friday’s winstargamingonline.com 400 at Texas Motor Speedway (8 p.m. ET on FS1). The contest marks Gragson’s fourth career race on a 1.5-mile track. In his previous three contests on intermediate ovals this season, Gragson placed 14th at Atlanta, 28th at Kansas and ninth at Charlotte.
“Coming off of two top-10 finishes these last two races, I definitely have the confidence I need to run well,” Gragson said. “It’s basically a new race track with the new pavement and banking, so I’m just going to watch some replays of the (Monster Energy NASCAR) Cup and XFINITY Series races earlier this year, and with IndyCar there the track will change with the different rubber as each series practices. I don’t really know what to expect other than it’s going to be very fast.”
Making Friday’s race extra special for Gragson is that he will receive his high school diploma from Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage during pre-race ceremonies.
“Having my graduation walk at Texas is going to be cool,” Gragson said. “A lot of my family is coming in for it, including my parents, grandparents and my sister who goes to college in Texas (SMU). She’s in a sorority, so I’m trying to convince her to bring all of her sorority sisters so I can have a good-looking cheering section in the stands.”
Source: NASCAR Wire Service
