NCWTS: Noah Gragson Wins Texas Roadhouse 200 at Martinsville

Noah Gragson will leave Martinsville Speedway with his first career Camping World Truck Series victory. Gragson, from Las Vegas, started fifth in the No. 18 Switch Toyota and led the field for 10 circuits.

“Starting out on the outside, it’s really really hard to pass here. You got a lot in wrap and stay really far on the bottom and man I’m just so thankful to have an awesome Switch Toyota Tundra to come out here,” said Gragson after scoring his first career victory. “Everyone that makes this possible for me – a young kid from Las Vegas who started racing five years ago. To be racing here in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, it’s a privilege and all those hours of hard work, I knew to myself this morning, I knew I could get it done. I’ve known it this whole year and I told myself I’m gonna get that trophy today and that’s what we did.”

Gragson had a very quiet afternoon as he was patient all throughout the Texas Roadhouse 200. He took the lead with 10 laps remaining by passing leader Matt Crafton on the outside following a late-race restart.

“It’s really tough racing against these veterans,” continued Gragson. “Those last like 40 laps with Johnny Sauter being off my back bumper, he did that earlier to that to us in the spring and I wasn’t gonna let him pass me again like that. We got that caution there at the end and you can’t pass on the outside in Martinsville and I did it.”

Through 20 events in 2017, Gragson holds four top five and 12 top 10 finishes with today’s win.

Matt Crafton will finish in the runner-up position on Saturday. The two-time Camping World Truck Series champion started second and led the field for 103 circuits. The California native was involved in an incident in turn one with Christopher Bell on lap 121.

Crafton finished 1.486 seconds behind the race winner.

Johnny Sauter will round out the top-three finishers on Saturday afternoon. Sauter led 33 laps in the No. 21 Chevrolet for GMS Racing to score his 10th top five finish of the season.

Sauter finished stage one sitting second and won stage two.

Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland rounded out the top five.

Stewart Friesen continues to impress at short tracks. The driver from Canada finished sixth to earn his third top 10 finish of the year in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Friesen’s best finish of the year was a runner-up finish at Eldora Speedway.

The next race for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will take place at Texas Motor Speedway on November 3rd. Coverage will begin at 8:00 p.m. ET. on FS1. The Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM Ch. 90 will carry the live radio broadcast.

Brett Winningham
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