Noah Gragson (No. 4) battling for position in the 2025 EchoPark Texas Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. (Photo Credit: John Arndt | The Podium Finish)
DEL VALLE, Texas — Las Vegas, Nevada native Noah Gragson did not let his Atlanta crash get to his head, as the driver of the No. 4 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang placed eighth in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Circuit of the Americas on Sunday afternoon, cashing in his first top 10 of the 2025 campaign.
Gragson placed his Ford Mustang for Front Row Motorsports in the 17th spot during Saturday’s qualifying session, lining up on the inside of the No. 19 Toyota Camry of Chase Briscoe for the fifth annual EchoPark Texas Grand Prix for Sunday afternoon.
Right as the green flag dropped and all 37 competitors raced up the hill into Turn 1, Gragson went to the outside of the spinning Chase Elliott at the top of the hill and found himself in the 12th spot heading down into the esses of Turn 2 and 3.
Gragson’s eventful day kicked off with him spinning off-track on Lap 5 in Turn 1, the same place he avoided the chaos at the beginning of the race. This set him back to 25th for most of Stage 1. He eventually crossed the start/finish line in the opening stage outside the top 30.
The 26-year-old driver saddled up for the restart in 26th alongside defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano for the Lap 26 restart.
Throughout Stage 2, Gragson failed to advance in the field, losing multiple spots and falling once again outside the top 30 in the running order. Crew chief Drew Blickensderfer called the No. 4 Ford to pit road to flip the stage with a few laps remaining in the second stage to gain as much track position for the final stage.
Gragson found himself restarting inside the top 25 for the final 50 lap shootout of the race and immediately got to work, passing several cars on the restart into Turn 1, breaking into the top 20 for the first time since the first five laps of the race.
After the Trackhouse teammates of Daniel Suárez and Cup Series debut driver Connor Zilisch tangled and crashed exiting Turn 19 in the early goings of the final stage, Gragson bolstered himself up to 15th for the restart on Lap 54.
Gragson got right to work, slowly picking his battles with several drivers on track for the next 25 laps.
As the final green flag pit stops were underway within the final 20 laps, Gragson continued to maintain an average running position of around 15th before the final caution of the day struck on Lap 78 when Denny Hamlin collected Austin Dillon in a spin going to Turn 6A, putting Dillon into the gravel. While this happened, Gragson scooted past the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro of Carson Hocevar before the yellow flag had flown, putting him inside the top 10 for the first time in the race.
With just 13 laps remaining, Gragson lined up for the restart in 10th and immediately started to make some moves, going door-to-door with Justin Haley, looking up into Turn 1 and pushing it three-wide with Ross Chastain.
Gragson had to claw for every position throughout the field en route to his eighth place finish at Circuit Of The Americas. (Photo Credit: John Arndt | The Podium Finish)
As the battle was on for the lead, Gragson had jumped all the way up to sixth with nine laps to go in the race and was setting himself up for his first top 10 of the season.
As the white flag waved on Lap 95, Gragson secured sixth place. However, he was overtaken by a fading Shane van Gisbergen and the defending Watkins Glen International race winner, Chris Buescher, who claimed the positions ahead of him. Despite this, Gragson managed to hold off a determined Alex Bowman, ultimately finishing eighth after a tumultuous race for the young driver.
“I was able to pick off 4 to 5 of them at a time,” said a very positive Gragson after having an amazing comeback within the final 20 laps of the event. “Our restarts were really good, going to the outside in the esses, to the right of guys through (Turn) 6A, and they all stacked up, so I was able to get a couple of them.”
Gragson was asked about his first top 10 of the season, but also how he and his teammates Todd Gilliland and Zane Smith have come together to build a strong bond over at Front Row Motorsports.
“It’s hard to tell so far, but to get done with Phoenix, Las Vegas, Homestead, and Martinsville, we will regroup and see exactly where at with us three (Gragson, Gilliland, and Smith).”
With the top 10, Gragson will move up the points chart by seven spots to 27th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings heading into next Sunday’s race at Phoenix Raceway on March 9.
Editor’s Notes
Rob Tiongson contributed to this article onsite from Circuit of the Americas in Del Valle, Texas.
