Noah Gragson isn’t signed for the 2025 NASCAR season and is trying to keep his head up until something materializes.
“I’m just trying to weigh out all the options accordingly and have those conversations,” Gragson said Saturday at Iowa Speedway. “But [I’m] still looking for an opportunity.”
Gragson and his Stewart-Haas Racing teammates are hunting for jobs after the organization announced May 28 that it is shutting its doors at season’s end, right in the middle of Gragson’s first season in the No. 10 Ford Mustang Dark Horse. The 25-year-old was brought back into the Cup Series by the Tony Stewart and Gene Haas co-owned team after being indefinitely suspended and losing his ride in 2023 for liking an insensitive meme on social media.
The opportunity was set to be one of the best he’s had in his career, but it’ll only last one season.
“I’ve had my fair challenges and adversity over the years,” Gragson said. “I’ve got a lot of great people supporting me and have a great support system that I talk to every day and whatnot. You like to tell yourself, ‘Hey, it’s going to be OK. Things are going to be all right,’ but you never really know. I know that in the past when I’ve gotten something signed, I’ve been able to sleep a little better at night, take a deep breath and fully focus on my day job for the rest of the day. That point hasn’t come yet.
“With that being said, I am probably more used to this challenge than maybe the other three teammates. All I know to do is work hard and keep being the best I can be and hopefully an opportunity presents itself.”
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Gragson’s Cup Series options remain to be seen, but he’s is hopeful.
“I keep telling myself to focus on what I can control,” he said. “That’s my attitude, focus…my leadership of our race team and what I can do behind the wheel preparation-wise — just becoming the best person and driver I can be. I don’t know what’s going to happen; I believe I can be a part of this group on Sundays that races, and I’m working my tail off to be a part of that group in the future.”
So far, he has six career top-10 finishes in 55 starts in the Cup Series after shining in the Xfinity Series where he ran four full seasons, winning 13 races and never finishing lower than eighth in the championship standings.
One of Gragson’s biggest supporters has been Bass Pro Shops. The company sponsored his Xfinity Series tenure and joined him at Stewart-Haas. Right now, though, he doesn’t have a clear sign whether he and Bass Pro Shops will stay together wherever he lands next.
“I think we have a lot of great partners, first and foremost,” Gragson said. “I definitely value them all, including Bass Pro Shops and the relationship with Johnny Morris. I’m just trying to figure out what the best opportunity for me is right now.”