UPDATE: Noah Gragson has been indefinitely suspended by NASCAR following his actions on social media, NASCAR announced on Saturday afternoon (Aug. 5).
“NASCAR fully supports Legacy Motor Club’s decision to suspend Noah Gragson,” NASCAR said in a release. “Following his actions on social media, NASCAR has determined that Gragson has violated the Member Conduct section of the 2023 NASCAR Rule Book and has placed him under indefinite suspension.”
Gragson has been suspended by Legacy Motor Club for actions that do not represent the values of the team, LMC announced on Saturday morning (Aug. 5).
The suspension is effective immediately, as the NASCAR Cup Series was set to practice and qualify at Michigan International Speedway just over an hour after the announcement.
Gragson’s suspension was likely the result of him allegedly liking a controversial meme that involved George Floyd’s murder and a The Little Mermaid reference after Frontstretch inquired about the alleged social media actions to the team.
“We have made the decision to suspend Noah Gragson effective immediately regarding his actions that do not represent the values of our team,” Legacy said in a team release.
Gragson later responded to the suspension on X (formerly Twitter), essentially confirming the suspension was due to his actions on social media.
“I am disappointed in myself for my lack of attention and actions on social media,” Gragson said. “I understand the severity of this situation. I love and appreciate everyone.
“I try to treat everyone equally no matter who they are. I messed up, plain and simple.”
Josh Berry, who was called to replace Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman for Hendrick Motorsports when they were out due to injuries this season, was tapped to drive the No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro for LMC at Michigan International Speedway this weekend. Berry was already at Michigan due to the NASCAR Xfinity Series racing there later Saturday. His best finish in the Cup Series was second at the first Richmond Raceway race this year in the No. 9 car.
Berry will practice and qualify the car on Saturday and then run in the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan on Sunday, Aug. 6, at 1:30 p.m. ET.
The team has yet to announce how long Gragson’s suspension will be for or who will drive the No. 42 car next week.
Wyatt Watson has followed NASCAR closely since 2007. He joined Frontstretchas a journalist in February 2023 after serving in the United States Navy for five years as an Electronic Technician Navigation working on submarines. Wyatt writes breaking NASCAR news and contributes to columns such as Friday Faceoff and 2-Headed Monster. Wyatt also contributes to Frontstretch's social media and serves as an at-track reporter, collecting exclusive content for Frontstretch.
Wyatt Watson can be found on Twitter @WyattGametime
Gragson is on his way out of Legacy anyway when they shift to Toyota.
That’s no excuse for being so insensitive now.
Since I made no comment on Gragson’s social media escapades, your comment is both uninformed and irrelevant.
Let’s me see if I understand this correctly, last year Hamblin posted a tweet that was deemed inappropriate, and got sent to sensitivity training. Gragson liked someone else’s tweet and he’s been suspended indefinitely. I guess it pays to be NASCAR’s favored bad boy.
Something tells me that Legacy was looking for an excuse to get rid of him anyway, even though I don’t think his on track performance was as much his fault, as it was the team’s. There’s no denying that Legacy’s taken a step backwards since Jimmy Johnson came on board. I guess this frees up a Toyota Cup seat for Nemechek next year?
Well, first, and foremost, Legacy suspended him first. From that point on, all NASCAR did was to support and validate that action
So this fool has time to play on social media and now he regrets it ,well you will have alot of time to work on social skills now. Lol.
What a dumbass. I’d rather be suspended for dissing George Floyd rather than having to wear that huge Wendy’s hat.
Please refer to “it” as “The Club”. Kinda like Mickey Mouse, but it’s Jimmie Johnson party. Y’all might remember he’s a 7-time champion. Or not.
J-Jo is a seven time title holder thanks to being Brian’s pet.
A real race car driver has not got any time for social media. Rich kids who know nothing are nothing. Enjoy your time off . now you can work on social skills instead of race cars.
Not a fan of Gragson beause of his cockiness and his loud mouth, but this just seems like an easy way to get out of fulfilling their contract with him, replace him with Nemecheck next year. Just for liking a meme?… wait until they find out where some of the sponors are from, and what they support? 😬 Maybe this will help his career, like it did Larsons? 🤔🤷🏼♂️
He’s no Larson. No way Jeff was not going to sign Larson.
Poor dumb Noah. Who would of thought 1 click of a phone or computer could cost you 100s of thousands of dollars. Everyone better be wary!
Exactly who makes up the NASCAR censorship squad?
Who Narced? I’m no Gragson fan but this is getting ridiculous
Apparently it was Daniel McFadin from this website.
Go Gragson! 100% support for him! nascar is a joke and went woke…Fake racing at it’s best.
Well let me say I have no regrets to the news about Noah, didn’t like him anyhow. He is like a lot of people I have met over the years, his worse enemy is just under his nose. If he didn’t know that before he does now. However, has Nascar become to ridged in how they apply the rules that govern their sport? Does it have the right to censer what people say? You guys down there in the U.S.A. have something called the First Amendment something about the freedom of speech. If this is not a violation of those rights, what is? Are we not allowed to have an opinion or say what we think or say on anything, weather it is popular or not ? Far to often popular opinion is pushed at us weather it is right or wrong but because it meets the needs of what the general population wants to hear. If this is the case lets just kill him, and be done with it. Oh by the by, burn the Fist Amendment too, while you are at it .
The first amendment only applies to the government not being able to censor you. His employer can censor him for just about any reason for making the company look bad.
It is important that whether you like him or not, DOES NOT MATTER. This is censorship of the pettiest of levels. Unreal, a stupid “liked” reply on the toxic social media, he lost his job. NASCAR is too woke and fluck the owner of his ride. This is the world we live it, be very afraid.
If everyone got suspended for stupidity there would be a lot more people out of work. I understand that these days teams are being extremely careful about their image, but Nascar giving an indefinite suspension see extreme overkill.
Unlike Larson, Gregson won’t be missed. But like Larson he’ll be back, just maybe not with Legacy. But that’s no big loss, that ride’s not going anywhere anyway.
I don’t care for Gragson at all, but this is stupid. The only stakeholder that should have cared one way or the other is his sponsor. Corporate America has no tolerance for controversy and no balls to push against ridiculousness. If the sponsor pulled their sponsorship then the team would have grounds to fire him. Otherwise, the team and NASCAR should have let it alone. It wasn’t that big of a deal.
Forget the France family ,it is obvious Bubble Wallace is in charge of NASCAR
Well he is gone permanently now. Good. Back to racing.