Las Vegan Noah Gragson won’t be penalized for cussing on TV

Noah Gragson will not be fined or assessed a points penalty for uttering a profanity during a national TV interview after losing Saturday’s NASCAR Infinity Series race at Texas Motor Speedway on the final lap.

The 22-year-old Las Vegan was leading when the white flag fell and appeared headed to a victory that would have punched his ticket to the Championship 4 drivers that will decide the championship at Phoenix before Harrison Burton passed him in the last corner.

Instead of locked into racing for the championship, Gragson now finds himself 24 points below the cut line heading into Saturday’s race at Martinsville, Virginia.

“I knew he was coming; I just didn’t expect him to get there,” Gragson said about Burton during a NBCSN interview shortly after the checkered flag. “(Expletive), I don’t know — er, sorry …”

That Gragson won’t be docked points — Fox Sports NASCAR reporter Bob Pockrass confirmed the news Tuesday during the rain-delayed Cup Series race at Texas — is important because Gragson might need every point he can muster to keep his championship hopes alive.

The decision not to penalize Gragson touched off a lively debate on Twitter during which one responder invoked the name of another Las Vegas NASCAR driver once known for a bad-boy image.

“Kurt Busch wouldve been on two year parole,” replied a fan identifying himself as The Lucky Edge.

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.