Photo – Jonathan Moore/Getty Images
Noah Gragson is our guest on Fan4Racing NASCAR & Race Talk on Monday, November 7, 2016 at 9:30 pm ET. Call 929-477-1790 or tweet @Fan4RacingSite or @Sal_Sigala with any questions or comments during our LIVE broadcast.
Noah Gragson is making his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) debut at Phoenix International Raceway (PIR) in the running of the Lucas Oil 150 Friday, November 11th.
Gragson is piloting the No. 18 Speed Vegas/ Alert ID Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) Toyota Tundra entry, owned by Richie Wauters at the Avondale, Arizona track.
The 18-year-old NASCAR Next driver started in the Bandoleros at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, eventually moving into late models. In 2015, Noah joined the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West making his series debut at Kern County Raceway Park. He finished third after qualifying eighth. At Tucson Raceway Park, Gragson battled with his teammate for his first career victory. Later in the season at Meridian (Idaho) Speedway, he recorded his first pole position and led 176 laps to win.
In his first season of stock car racing, Gragson finished second in the final points standings with two wins, seven top-fives, and 11 top-tens, becoming the ninth driver in series history to finish runner-up in points and win Rookie of the Year.
2016 would mark a full-season return to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, as well as competing in 13 of 14 races in the NKNPS East. In 27 races between the two series, Gragson would put up an impressive four wins, 13 top-five and 19 top-ten finishes.
Gragson has also competed in several Super Late Model events with Wauters Motorsports and is looking for additional experience prior to his 2017 full season in the NCWTS for KBM.
“I am excited about my debut in the Truck Series (NCWTS) in Phoenix and moving to the next level of racing from the NASCAR K&N Series to one of the top-tier NASCAR touring series in 2017,” says Gragson. “I want to thank Kyle & Samantha Busch, KBM, Richie Wauters and Toyota for the opportunity to run the final two races this season in preparation for next year. I am proud to represent my sponsors Speed Vegas and Alert ID at Phoenix and Homestead (HMS). My goal is to learn a lot these next two events, run all the laps and build towards next season. I’ve run PIR in the K&N Series where I was able to learn the track but I know driving the Toyota Tundra will be a new experience and I am certainly looking forward to it.”
Gragson will also pilot the KBM Tundra entry, owned by Richie Wauters at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the November 18th NCWTS Season Finale.
“We are excited to have Noah (Gragson) in the truck at Phoenix. We ran this truck (chassis 23) at New Hampshire (Motor Speedway) and Phoenix (PIR) last year with Dalton (Sargent) where he finished ninth in New Hampshire and was caught up in a wreck at Phoenix. Kyle (Busch) and I go back a long ways in the Truck Series (NCWTS) and I’m glad we were able to get Noah behind the wheel of a truck in the last two races before his full season next year. Noah is a great driver, we’ve had a lot of fun running in the Super Late Models the past couple years and we are anxious to see how he converts his style to a truck. Hopefully, we will have a great finish at Phoenix and Homestead for Speed Vegas, Alert ID and Toyota.”
The Lucas Oil 150 NCWTS at Phoenix International Raceway is slated to begin at 10 pm ET Friday, November 11th. Fox Sports 1 will have live televised coverage of practice from 11:30 am to 3 pm ET; qualifying is at 8:30 pm ET and the NCWTS Setup Show beginning at 9:30 pm ET. MRN Radio and Sirius XM NASCAR Channel 90 will also have live coverage of the race.