Noah Gragson's Frustrating Season Boils Down to One Ultimate Goal: "Win the Championship, That's It"

The 2021 Xfinity Series season has not gone the way Noah Gragson had hoped it might.  A strong playoff run could still lead to a championship, though he admitted to the media on Wednesday “I don’t really know if we’re a championship favorite right now, because we haven’t been close to winning these last few months.”

 

Last year, in his second full-time Xfinity Series season, Gragson finished the season in 5th place, with two wins under his belt and an average finish of 8.79.  This year, through 21 races, he remains winless and has an average finish of 15.62 so far.  While his points situation looks comfortable enough to earn him a spot in the playoffs, Gragson says “It’s extremely frustrating [to not have a win yet], we keep on pushing hard, working hard every week, trying to do the best job possible.”

 

Though Gragson was unwilling to extrapolate on how Josh Berry's new full-time deal with JRM might affect his own future at the team, he did identify the one thing that could turn this season into a success: a championship.  “It’s a failure if you don’t win the championship.  You can’t [make] excuses, […] I think we’re a good team, we’ve led laps, we’ve been in the top 5, but nobody really sees that.”

 

Noah Gragson and the rest of the JRM #9 Chevrolet team haven’t given up.  He’s hoping to make some positive strides over the remaining five regular season races before the playoffs start, saying “I feel like we’re a team capable of running in the top five, […] everyone’s working their tails off.” 

 

When asked about his future, and whether a few wins down the stretch might positively impact his plans for 2022, Gragson said “My focus is trying to win races, each and every race all year long.”  He rallied behind his team, saying “I know we have a team capable of doing it.  I feel capable of doing it.  I feel we have cars capable of doing it.  We’re hungry.”

 

Noah Gragson and the #9 team will aim to turn the season around as he will start fourth at Michigan International Speedway this Saturday. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Letter From The Editor - ''My Personal Story, and Racing Refresh's Commitment to Motorsports Diversity."

Image
I have been a true student of motorsports since year 2000 when my uncle moved to Columbus, OH and introduced me to Big and Little E . Prior to my pursuit of racing knowledge, I have distinct memories of watching Dennis Anderson's monstrous Grave Digger, or King Kenny Bernstein's iconic Budweiser livery win countless races. I remember the rainbow assortment of Pontiac Trans-Ams race in the prestigious IROC events. I sat in amazement as the greatest racer that ever lived, Michael Schumacher won what felt like every start of his career. I always enjoyed motorsports, but it was the off-season of 2000-01 that made me crave and live for more each day.  My uncle had diecast cars that sat on shelves, each with their own story. While they were a wonderful collection, I think I assumed price tags in the millions of dollars as a child. Earnhardt's K2 , old Chevy hot rods, Busch Series this, Winston Cup Series that, he had a wonderful collection. There was one driver he highlighted to
Read more

NTT IndyCar Series Race Preview: Detroit Grand Prix Doubleheader

Image
             After coming off an historic Indianapolis 500 where Heilo Castroneves won for a record tying fourth time, the stars of the NTT IndyCar Series heads to the Motor City for the Chevrolet Grand Prix - Duel in Detroit this weekend. After a double points event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Alex Palou enjoys a 36 point lead over Scott Dixon in the championship standings.     Event History : IndyCar has come to the temporary street circuit ever since 1992 back before the CART/IndyCar merger in the 2000s. The first race was won by Bobby Rahal in his lighting fast Lola T9200. CART continued to go to Detroit until 2001. In 2007, the Indy Racing League returned for two years until a three-year hiatus from 2009 until 2011. The series returned in 2012 and the doubleheader format was picked up the following year and has been the race after the 500 ever since. Joesf Newgarden set the qualifying record in 2017 with a lap at 1:14.2062 long.      Track Facts:  The Grand Prix circuit at Bel
Read more