The Round of 8 may wind up being “what could have been” for Noah Gragson.
Despite scoring his 16th top five and 24th top-10 finish, both career highs in his Xfinity Series career, he fell short of advancing to the Championship 4 for the second year in a row. But that goal not being met doesn’t mean the season as a whole was completely unsuccessful.
“I feel like it was a success,” Gragson said. “The season’s not over, but at the beginning of the year, we wanted to go finish top five every race and the last six races we finished top three in five of the last six races. It’s unfortunate not making the Final Four, but if we don’t have that [36th-place finish] at Kansas and getting taken out, it might be a different story.”
You gotta feel bad for @NoahGragson…that was about as stellar a playoff run you'll ever see. Just one bad race put an end to the dream.
Last 6 races:
2nd
3rd
2nd
36th
2nd
3rd— Dion (J & T Sports) (@Dion_JTsports) October 31, 2020
“Super proud of [crew chief] Dave Elenz and the guys on this No. 9 Bass Pro Shops team. They put in a lot of effort, lot of late nights at the shop. Definitely a bummer, but I don’t think it’s a failure by any means, it just is what it is.”
His Round of 8 kicked off with a 36th-place finish at Kansas, immediately putting him behind the eight ball. Last weekend at Texas, he came up a few hundred yards short of redeeming himself with a win, only to slip up coming off turn 4 to the checkered flag and finish second.
And on Saturday at Martinsville, a third-place run wasn’t enough for Gragson to point his way in. It was going to be win or go home, and unfortunately for the No. 9, he came up short.
"If the No. 7 wasn't outside of the No. 20, I would've gotten the No. 20 on the restart," @NoahGragson says of his race.
Also said his season is still a success in his eyes, and if he didn't finish last at Kansas that this would be a different ending. pic.twitter.com/xRGic2kznZ
— Davey Segal (@DaveyCenter) October 31, 2020
“He’s going for a championship in points and I didn’t wanna ruin his chances,” Gragson said of trying to get by Justin Allgaier. “Because it’s a teammate out there, you’re not going to bulldog your way through there.”
"If the No. 7 wasn't outside of the No. 20, I would've gotten the No. 20 on the restart," @NoahGragson says of his race.
Also said his season is still a success in his eyes, and if he didn't finish last at Kansas that this would be a different ending. pic.twitter.com/xRGic2kznZ
— Davey Segal (@DaveyCenter) October 31, 2020
Gragson and the No. 9 JR Motorsports team will aim to close out the year on a high note next weekend at Phoenix Raceway (Saturday, Nov. 7 at 5 p.m. ET).