‘It’s pretty special,’ Noah Gragson reacts after securing his first Daytona 500 start

‘It’s pretty special,’ Noah Gragson reacts after securing his first Daytona 500 start

Noah Gragson

The official beginning of the 2022 NASCAR cup series will begin with the historical Daytona 500 in Florida with 42 cars lining up for the ultimate glory. Reigning NASCAR champion Kyle Larson secured the pol alongside his teammate Alex Bowmen in P2. There 6 open cars, that are not charted with NASCAR, participating in the qualifying, and only 4 of them will be moved on. Two of the position has been filled after the qualifying.

Noah Gragson, the full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series championship contender, earned his first automatic bid into the Daytona 500 with a 33rd best qualifying lap alongside 1997 Formula One world champion 50 years old Jacques Villeneuve securing the 2 out of 4 slots available for open cars in Daytona 500.

Find out what Noah Gragson had to say about the achievement

Noah Gragson
Noah Gragson

Noah Gragson was quick to thank individuals and firms like crew member Darren Shaw, his only employee, Richard Childress Racing, ECR Engines who provided them with power units, his sponsors Beard family, and Brandon Graham who invited him to drive the cup series. Noah Gragson added that he is super excited and proud to secure his first start in the “Great American Race” after a failed attempt last year.

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“That’s pretty special. I mean we have one employee with Darren Shaw, we had a lot of help from RCR and a great power unit under the hood with ECR. The beard family allowed me to come here. Brandon Gargham called me about one and a half years ago asking me to come to drive this car, we came up short last year and to be able to make my first cup start on Sunday… it’s pretty special,” says Noah Gragson.

“So, we are the fastest out of all the open cars so that’s pretty good. We will be busy this year with Junior Motorsports …super excited and very proud,” Noah Gragson added.

Two other Open cars will make it to the final starting order of the Daytona 500 grid after the  Bluegreen Vacations Duel 150s which will take place on Thursday and Friday.

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