Gragson would like to let the Ghia Pet out of his fire suit
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK, No. 43 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Camry XSE, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB
What are your thoughts on the season so far?
“I feel good and disappointed all at the same time. I feel like the potential that we’ve had, the speed that we’ve been able to have in our race cars at times has definitely been better than years past. I feel that overall, we have made major gains, they’re just not showing up on paper from finishing results, from the point standings and things of that sort right now. We’ve gotta definitely change that a little bit. I feel like overall, performance-wise and potential-wise it’s better than it has been at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB. It’s just now about execution and finishing where we feel like we should. The 43 (Erik Jones) has had a couple decent runs. We’ve had some pretty decent runs. Like I said, but the finishes don’t always show that, so we’ve figure that out.”
Hocevar really goes to Chili’s
Sponsorship is such a big deal in this sport. You won last week with Chili’s. You go to Chili’s. You’re always promoting it. So I’m just curious, as a driver who’s always talking about a sponsor, it’s like you have a really genuine, positive relationship with Chili’s. Talk about the relationship and what it means to you.
“Yeah, there’s just a lot of friendships and relationships, more than anything. You know, when I say Chili’s, I’m saying all the people I’ve met there more than anything, rather than just the brand. When I say Chili’s, they feel as if I’m just calling out their name one by one because of how close we all are. I met a few of the Chili’s folks at Talladega my rookie year. We were looking out in the parking lot when we were at their cookout area. They still had the selfie when I was a rookie in Trucks at Talladega that we happened to land at each other’s motorhome lot. They still remember it and now here they are, having won Talladega and then won here (at Texas Motor Speedway).
They were just race fans showing up; no connections to anything or sponsors. They were just race fans that I happened to find my way into their campsite. We took a photo and just talked racing for 20 minutes and moved on, not thinking we’d ever pass each other again. It’s just the true definition of the story everybody says all the time of you never know who you’re going to meet.”
Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang Dark Horse, is coming off his first top-10 finish of the NASCAR Cup Series season last weekend when he ran ninth at Talladega Superspeedway. Gragson was this week’s guest on Ford Racing’s media call to talk about that performance and this weekend’s event at Texas Motor Speedway, where he has one victory in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (2022).
NOAH GRAGSON, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHAT IS GOING ON WITH YOUR TEAM THAT YOU FEEL LIKE IS TRENDING IN A POSITIVE DIRECTION?
“I feel like maybe we had a little bit more speed last year overall as far as the 4 car, but we’re working hard behind the scenes. That being said, it’s one of those things that we’ve just tried to take it week by week and figure out what we can do. I feel like the communication is probably better than it’s ever been as far as just I’m having to do so much communication with the team. I’ve got a new crew chief and all that, so it’s a little exhausting but you don’t want to cut any corners. So, I would say something you probably don’t see is the amount of communication.”
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
What are your thoughts on Texas Motor Speedway?
“The place is fast and it’s big. You’ve got to go out there and commit to Turns 3 and 4. It’s one of the fastest tracks we go to all year long. I have confidence going in there for sure. We’ve just got to go out there, qualify well, execute, and make it happen when it counts.”
What’s one moment at Texas Motor Speedway that sticks out to you?
“There are a lot of memorable moments at Texas Motor Speedway, but one that really sticks out is winning against my teammate, Tyler Reddick, there a couple years back in the NASCAR Cup Series. We were battling out those restarts at the end. We weren’t a great car that day. We were probably a 10th-12th place car, and both of us decided to take two tires to get up front and tack control of the race. And then, with clean air our cars took off. My confidence was high. We just kept having restarts and were able to make it happen.”
