Tag: Noah Gragson

Noah Gragson has finally put in a full NASCAR Cup Series season and has his feet back underneath him.

Gragson finished 24th in the championship standings driving for Stewart-Haas Racing. The No. 10 team put together seven top-10 finishes and an average finish of 21.6. Along the way, Gragson marked off tracks he had never previously competed on and signed a new deal — with Front Row Motorsports — for the 2025 season.

“I think getting an opportunity for next year with everything going away, the goal was to just get back on the map,” Gragson told RACER about what he wanted to get out of the 2024 season. “The main goal was to get back on the map and show we can run competitively. With that being said, it’s been a privilege to be in this opportunity.”

Stewart-Haas Racing announced the end of its tenure in May. Gragson announced his deal with Front Row in July.

It was Tony Stewart and Gene Haas who brought Gragson back into the sport. Gragson became a hot commodity by winning 13 races in four Xfinity Series seasons. In the process, he ran nearly half a Cup Series season in 2022 with Beard Motorsports, Kaulig Racing, and then as a substitute driver at Hendrick Motorsports when Alex Bowman suffered a concussion.

Legacy Motor Club hired Gragson for the 2023 season. However, it only lasted until late summer when he was suspended by the team and NASCAR for liking an insensitive meme on Instagram. But his second chance came with Stewart-Haas and Gragson has been putting his best foot forward ever since.

“I’m very grateful for Tony [Stewart] and Greg Zipadelli and everybody who has given me this opportunity over at Stewart-Haas,” Gragson said. “It’s a bummer what everyone is going through but for myself personally, I’m not content and I’m not satisfied with (what we’ve accomplished). But I’m confident to say I feel like I have somewhat earned an opportunity to race on Sundays.”

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It was an up-and-down year for Gragson and his team. At the start of the season, Gragson appeared to carry the banner for Stewart-Haas with five top-10 finishes in the first 12 races. But as the season progressed, Gragson felt there were rule changes that hindered the team and areas where he could have done better.

Gragson ended the year the second highest Stewart-Haas driver in the overall standings. Chase Briscoe led the way by winning the regular season finale to earn a spot in the 16-driver postseason.

“But I think my attitude and growth from last year, I’ve seen improvement personally,” Gragson said. “There is still a long way to go, but I want to keep on growing.”

“I still ride the waves of the highs are good and the lows are low and get frustrated like anybody,” Gragson further explained. “But to be able to have a bad run the prior week and bounce back the next week and put yourself back on the map. Last year … I don’t think we had a good run. Not one. It wasn’t fun. I’m having more fun.”

The fun will continue at Front Row. Gragson was the second driver confirmed for the team, which plans to expand to three cars for the 2025 season. The car number, crew chief, and partners for Gragson’s program are still unconfirmed.

Front Row knows it is getting a talented and likable driver in Gragson. Someone they believe is marketable and can bring a good energy to a race team. And for Gragson, he will bring experience and a better perspective.

“The people that I met and the experiences we’ve had,” will be what Gragson takes into the future. “Thinking back 20 years down the road of where I was at last year and how drastic my life has changed in the last 18 months to 24 months. From being at the highest of highs in Xfinity to the lowest of lows in my rookie season in Cup, and not even finishing that out.

“But then to get a second opportunity to come back, and really just appreciate the little things. Appreciate the time you get to spend with the guys in the hauler before the race, and walking out to driver intros. It’s all the little stuff I’ll appreciate in 20 years.”

 

Front Row Motorsports had Noah Gragson at the top of their board.

It was the only name the organization needed, landing Gragson in a multiyear deal announced Wednesday. Gragson’s team program will be laid out in the coming weeks as the organization leaves car numbers and other details open until its full driver lineup is finalized. But in the meantime, the organization got the driver it wanted in 25-year-old Gragson.

“I think for the whole package,” Front Row general manager Jerry Freeze said in explaining its choice. “I think once he got in the 10 car this year, you saw what he was capable of on the track. He could run up in the top 10, and he doesn’t seem to take any flak on the racetrack. Kyle Busch is mad at him one week and this guy is mad at him the next week, and I kind of like that. He’s not out there to make friends.

“We saw his success in the Truck Series. We saw his success in the Xfinity Series. Last year was incredibly rocky for him, but he’s rebounded, and he’s gotten into a good operation.”

Freeze did his due diligence before Gragson was signed. One of the individuals Freeze spoke to was Drew Blickensderfer, who previously worked at Front Row Motorsports. Blickensderfer is Gragson’s current crew chief at Stewart-Haas Racing, working with a young driver after spending multiple years overseeing teams for veterans Michael McDowell and Aric Almirola.

One of the questions Freeze asked Blickensderfer, “’Well, how is it going with this crazy kid?’

“He was so glowing in his praise for Noah with what he’s done in the offseason building those relationships with them — the road crew, pit crew, marketing and all of that. Everything I heard talking to friends of mine about Noah with Stewart-Haas was positive and he was the fastest guy in their stable arguably the first seven or eight races. So, when we knew Michael was moving on and the opportunity to get the charter and man, we’re going to have to find two drivers here, it was like, who is available? I just thought he could be the whole package of a young guy with some experience, a lot of talent, a lot of success in the lower series, who is looking to make his mark, and marketable.”

Freeze was surprised to see how popular Gragson is with race fans. Gragson appeared in the top-10 trackside sales reports multiple times last season, which Freeze saw because they are sent to teams.

“So, I just think it’s the whole package he brings to the table,” Freeze said.
“Some guys are really good drivers and might be a challenge marketability-wise but I think he checked all the boxes for what you look for.”

Gragson, Todd Gilliland and a third driver to be announced will have Front Row Motorsports fielding three full-time entries next season for the first time since 2019. The organization announced May 29 that it had purchased a third charter.

The expansion wasn’t necessarily surprising to Freeze, who said it happened quickly. In fact, he vividly remembers the day at Bristol when teams began hearing there would be a chance to make offers on charters. Bob Jenkins, the owner of Front Row Motorsports, was so excited that it made Freeze shake a bit.

“We had three charters for one year when we bought BK Racing out of bankruptcy, and it was a huge challenge for us,” Freeze said. “We weren’t ready at that point to run three cars and we quickly sold off that charter and focused on two cars. But I know in the years since Bob has regretted we sold that charter. Bob is a self-made guy… and to him, incremental growth is the key to success.

“He always regretted that we sold that charter and so I think he wished we would have stayed the course with three teams. So, when he found out, hey, there’s an opportunity to get in on possibly acquiring another charter, even though the price had jumped quite a bit from the last time, he believes in this sport in the long term enough that he wanted to make that investment. It was kind of on from Bristol.”

Noah Gragson will join Front Row Motorsports in 2025. The multiyear deal will see Gragson compete in the NASCAR Cup Series with the team. The car number, crew chief and partners for Gragson will be announced at a later date.

“We feel that this is a great opportunity and the perfect time to bring Noah to our organization,” said owner Bob Jenkins. “He has just the right amount of experience in the NASCAR Cup Series to break out and become a winner for years to come. This season, Noah has started to get the finishes and race consistently up front, which was expected from him.

“Joining our team, staying with Ford Performance, and welcoming him to our partners, we are only going to accelerate his opportunity to win races and compete in the playoffs. This is the driver that we want to help get us more wins.”

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Gragson, 25, joins the organization from Stewart-Haas Racing, which is shutting down at the end of the year. He will be teammates with Todd Gilliland and a third driver still to be named. Front Row Motorsports is expanding to three cars next season with the addition of a third charter.

The 2025 season will be Gragson’s third full year in the Cup Series. By joining Front Row, he remains in the Ford camp.

“I think a lot of people have seen the growth of Front Row Motorsports over the past several seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series,” said Gragson. “This team, with Ford Performance, has shown it is capable of winning and wants to win more. Meeting Bob (Jenkins) and Jerry (Freeze), there is a determination and plan to continue to grow and compete against the absolute best. There is a strong commitment on their part, and I am ready to give it my best next season.

“Until that time, I want to say that I’m staying focused on the task at hand at Stewart-Haas Racing to finish the season with intentions of racing for wins with them.”

Gragson failed to qualify for the Daytona 500 in 2021 with Beard Motorsports but returned in 2022 to run a limited schedule with the team. He also ran races for Kaulig Racing and Hendrick Motorsports, serving as a substitute driver for the latter when Alex Bowman suffered a concussion. In 18 starts, Gragson earned one top-10 finish.

Legacy Motor Club hired Gragson for the 2023 season. However, a mid-season suspension for liking an insensitive meme on Instagram ended Gragson’s season and his tenure with Legacy Motor Club. Stewart-Haas Racing brought Gragson back into the Cup Series by hiring him to replace Aric Almirola in the No. 10 Ford Mustang.

Gragson has made 59 starts in the Cup Series to date with seven top-10 finishes.