AVONDALE, Ariz – Noah Gragson raced his guts out throughout Saturday’s Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway, but the combination of laps and an ill-handling car kept the JR Motorsports driver from being able to capture his first championship title in the Xfinity 200.
Gragson had a solid No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro throughout the 200-lap race but following the final round of pit stops at Lap 160, Gragson’s pit crew had an 18.5-second which dropped him five spots for the restart.
Restarting eighth, Gragson’s attempt to recover was stalled after making contact with Brandon Jones after the cars ahead stacked up ahead sending the Joe Gibbs Racing driver around in Turn 2 and triggering the final caution of the race.
Knowing that he was running out of laps to get back to the front, Gragson had a massive restart on Lap 172 picking up five positions and finding himself catching the two leaders of Justin Allgaier and Ty Gibbs.
Hard racing between Allgaier and Gibbs allowed the Las Vegas, Nev. native to enter the race lead picture with Gragson making the pass on Allgaier for second with 14 laps to go.
But throughout the final dozen laps of the Xfinity Series season-finale, Gragson did everything imaginable to try and catch the Joe Gibbs Racing rival – but his efforts were left in vain.
Gibbs just had the better car.
Gragson finished second, 0.397-seconds behind Gibbs but he led the JR Motorsports three-man Championship 4 band edging Justin Allgaier by one position and finishing 11 positions higher than Josh Berry who connected with the wall late and finished 13th.
After the race, Gragson who was still understandably upset about being defeated said his No. 9 JR Motorsports team failed to execute when it mattered most.
“Just execution on pit stops,” offered Gragson. “We just needed to be better as a Bass Pro Shops team all around. Still proud of everyone’s efforts. I thought we had a really good car there in the second half.
“We restarted eighth on that last restart and got up to second and just too tight there at the end. But, just still super proud of everyone. Thanks to all the fans, you guys are so bad ass. Just didn’t have enough for him at the end. It wasn’t a lack of trying.”
While the execution wasn’t great – Gragson said later it wasn’t the nail in the coffin of the team’s night.
“No, it wasn’t,” he explained. “Because we came off pit road, we were in eighth, it was what it was. We still had laps left, and we still had opportunity. We weren’t wrecked. We weren’t in the garage. We still had opportunity.
“Just got beat there at the end. Started getting tight, probably needed to be a little freer.
“But really proud of everyone’s efforts all year long. That’s why I’m mad at the result a little bit, but I’m not. I don’t know. I felt like last year I was way more mad just because — I don’t know, I think this year I did my absolute best, like I can lay my head down after restarting eighth with 25, 30 to go and getting up to second and almost having a shot to win the race.
“I’m content with that. I don’t think the driver a year ago, two years ago, three years ago would be able to do that. I did my absolute best. I drove my ass off. I tried my best and gave it everything I had. Just got beat.”
If Gragson had a shot to steal the thunder from Gibbs in the closing laps, Gragson admitted that he would take a shot – even if it involved contact with Gibbs’s No. 54 Toyota Supra.
“I was going to drive in if I was any closer and get that POS,” he said. “It definitely sucks to lose to someone like that. It’s not from a lack of effort. This BASS Pro Shops team was really good all year, eight wins, led the most laps, the most top-fives, just came up one race short.”
Even with his dislike for Gibbs, Gragson showed sportsmanship and professionalism as an athlete by congratulating Gibbs post-race on his first Xfinity Series championship.
When asked why he did that, the 23-year-old quickly replied, “Because they did a good job. They beat us.
“He did a great job. They won the race fair and square today.”
Gragson’s 135th career Xfinity start at Phoenix marked the end of a full-time Xfinity career and a four-year tenure with JR Motorsports. The day was emotional on many levels, but Gragson said he will never forget the experience, the friendships and memories he made.
“One thing I’ll remember in 20 years is just the relationships that we had with everybody in the garage,” Gragson said.
“Grateful to be able to have the opportunity these last four years with JR Motorsports. Our No. 9 team is so tight and we have so much fun. Would have loved to close the year out with a championship, but not meant to be.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
