Gragson Extends Top-10 Streak With Solid Kansas Run

Noah Gragson in action Sunday at Kansas Speedway. (HHP/Harold Hinson photo)

KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Noah Gragson continued to ride a wave of momentum in the NASCAR Cup Series, picking up his third straight top-10 finish Sunday night at Kansas Speedway.

The Las Vegas native’s ninth-place finish in the AdventHealth 400 marked his fifth top-10 of the year overall, the most among the four Stewart-Haas Racing drivers.

After wheeling his Bass Pro Shops Ford Mustang Dark Horse to his best career start of third on Saturday afternoon, Gragson took full advantage of the track position and hung around the top 10 all night long, earning points in both stages.

He followed that up with solid speed in the final 100 laps before using a two-tire pit call during the final caution of the race to line up sixth for the overtime restart.

Gragson survived a chaotic two laps to end up ninth, second-best among the Blue Ovals.

“Everybody has been working really hard and this is our third top-10 finish in a row,” said Gragson of his recent runs. “We were third at Talladega, sixth at Dover, and now ninth here. Three-six-nine, damn; I guess we are doing fine.

“I thought we had a really good Mustang all weekend,” Gragson added. “We qualified third, [were] fourth in practice and then came home ninth tonight. Overall, a really good weekend.”

Gragson kicked off his inaugural season at the wheel of the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford with a ninth-place finish in the Daytona 500, following it up two weeks later with a sixth place run at his home track in Las Vegas.

After a few quiet weeks, Gragson exploded back into the top 10 with his career-best of third at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, followed by the aforementioned sixth at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway before his Kansas run. It’s a career-long top-10 streak for the 25-year-old.

In addition, Gragson continued to march closer to the playoff cutline, gaining two positions and moving up to 19th. He’s now 67 points out of the top 16.

Had it not been for a 35-point penalty at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway in February, Gragson would sit just 32 points out of the playoffs.

However, Gragson is still not fully satisfied, despite his recent run of good fortune.

“[I] still want a little bit more, but these have been good days compared to what our goals were at the start of the year,” he said.

Gragson looks to continue his streak of top 10s next weekend at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway during NASCAR Throwback Weekend. Coverage of the Goodyear 400 begins at 3 p.m. ET on FS1, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.