Las Vegas’ Noah Gragson to make Truck Series debut in Phoenix
It was shaping up as a busy Tuesday for Noah Gragson, Las Vegas’ home-schooled stock car driver who has rosy cheeks and a rosy NASCAR future. Math, science, a little history.
No English, though — he’s working on a 100 percent score in English three-quarters into the current semester, which seemed amusing and amazing to him.
He returned a text request, did a media interview, said thanks to a reporter. You don’t get that with a lot of racers, not even the young guns on their way up.
After we chatted, young Gragson said he would be leaving shortly for Phoenix, where he would be making his NASCAR Truck Series debut Friday.
All of this was happening on Election Day. Having recently turned 18, Gragson was asked if he was planning to vote.
He said he already had.
The kid even made time to perform his civic duty.
“Everything’s been moving real fast for me,” said Gragson, who won four times in 27 starts in the developmental K&N East and West Pro Series this year in catching the eye of fellow Las Vegan Kyle Busch and other team owners. “I’m pumped up; it’s almost like it’s not even real. Knowing I will be racing in a series I watched on TV is a dream come true.”
He said he has never driven this truck, the No. 18 Speed Vegas/Alert ID Toyota Tundra. He said he sat in it once, while being measured for a seat.
So there’s going to be a learning curve, and maybe a couple of learning straightaways, too.
Gragson, who this year was named to NASCAR Next, a list of young drivers tabbed as potential stock car racing stars, is being groomed to take over William Byron’s seat with Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2017.
He said it’s a bonus to be getting his feet wet at Phoenix, and at next week’s season finale at Homestead, Florida. But neither Byron, who will move up to the Xfinity Series, nor KBM teammate Christopher Bell has yet to qualify for the Truck Series final four, which could affect the way Gragson races.
Byron and Bell are second and third in points, but they haven’t punched tickets for the Chase finale. So in addition to learning the nuances of driving a lightning-fast, 3,400-pound NASCAR truck, Gragson also will have to be a good teammate.
“It’s a great opportunity to get to run the truck, but I don’t want to spoil the show or somebody’s shot at a championship by getting in the way, or doing something that’s not good for them,” he said. “I just want to learn as much as I possibly can and get a couple of races under my belt. It really just comes down to me learning the race truck, getting a feel for the racetrack, being confident in my ability.
“But these guys in the Truck Series — they’re really good.”
Yes, they are. But not many of them are working on a perfect score in English this far into the racing season, if that counts for anything.
@NoahGragson to make @NASCAR_Trucks Debut at @PhoenixRaceway in @ToyotaRacing #Tundra READ MORE: https://t.co/2foEuIXeTb pic.twitter.com/r9SLJtQQ6b
— Wauters Motorsports (@WautersMotors5) November 7, 2016
NASCAR
• Las Vegan Spencer Gallagher dominated much of last weekend’s truck race in Texas, leading 88 laps, but a slow pit stop during the closing segment dropped him from first to seventh at the checkered flag. “It’s the most disappointed I’ve ever been,” said the 26-year-old, who started on the pole and led the first 40 laps of a race that was slowed just three times by caution flags.
• Brendan Gaughan, still competing for a spot among the final four drivers who will decide the Xfinity Series championship at Homestead, Florida, is now slotted eighth among those still eligible. Gaughan probably needs a victory at Phoenix this weekend to race onward; he finished 15th at Texas and 31st at Kansas and is 39 points beneath the cutoff line.
LVMS
More than 220 IMCA modified and Northern SportMod drivers are expected to invade the Las Vegas Motor Speedway dirt track in waves or a tsunami this weekend for the 19th annual Duel In the Desert. Qualifying races are Friday, with last-chance races and main events in both divisions set Saturday. Racing starts at 4 p.m. on both days.
CLOSING LAPS
Twitter post from @nascarcasm: “Never ask any of the pollsters to calculate your fuel mileage on race day.”
Never ask any of the pollsters to calculate your fuel mileage on race day. #NASCAR
— nascarcasm (@nascarcasm) November 9, 2016
Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.
