Gragson Fights for a Top-10 Finish at Charlotte

Noah Gragson recorded his second top-10 finish of the season, and his best career-finish at a mile-and-a-half track when he brought his Switch Tundra home in ninth place Friday night under the lights at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
  
Stage One Recap:
  • Gragson started 15th after getting loose in qualifying in the heat of the day. He struggled with a tight condition during the first 40-lap stage of the race. He said the Switch Tundra was good when he was by himself, but too tight in traffic. A caution with six laps to go until the end of the stage brought several trucks to pit road, but Gragson stayed out. That moved him up to the top 10 and he finished the first stage in ninth. He then came to pit road for four tires and a wedge adjustment.
Stage Two Recap:
  • Gragson started stage two in 18th place since seven of the trucks that pitted earlier stayed out on the track at the end of stage one. He said the handling of his Tundra was better early in the run and by lap 65 was up to 11th place. He continued to battle for position and ended stage two in ninth place. The Switch Tundra had gotten tight again, so he pitted for tires and another adjustment.
Stage Three Recap:
  • Starting the final stage in ninth place, Gragson was determined to stay with the leaders. He had fallen back to 13th with 20 laps to go, but a lucky break came his way when a caution came for a spin with six laps remaining in the race. Crew chief Marcus Richmond called Gragson to pit road for four fresh tires and a track bar adjustment to free up the Switch Tundra for the final three-lap shootout. He restarted the race 14th, but had a great restart. In the closing laps, he fought his way up to ninth place to finish the race.

KBM PR