Last week at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway was a career race for Noah Gragson as he stayed out of trouble to finish third in the Geico 500.
With a hint of momentum after a six-race slide of finishing 12th or worse prior to Talladega, Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway awaited the NASCAR Cup Series.
Gragson kicked off the weekend with a solid fifth-place qualifying result, however, the daunting one-mile concrete track still loomed.
While the Stewart-Haas Racing driver struggled through the middle part of the race, which saw the No. 10 Ford mired back in 19th at Stage Two’s end, Gragson managed to rebound in part due to a caution flag with 79 laps to go aiding the team.
With the caution flag becoming a reset button of sorts, Gragson’s No. 10 Ford ran strong in the final laps, eventually finishing sixth in the Wurth 400.
“I thought we qualified really well and then we kind of fell back there the first half of the race,” Gragson admitted. “We got really lucky with that caution coming on the final green flag pit cycle, but the Miller Tech Mustang was good once we got some track position.
“It just took a little bit, but things fell our way and we were able to come home with a top-10 finish, finishing sixth. It wasn’t looking pretty there in the middle of the race, but I’m thankful things went our way and we were able to get that track position at the end.”
Gragson continues to be a bright spot for the entire SHR organization, who has struggled mightily the last two seasons to find consistent results.
As he assessed the team’s early season success, Gragson pointed to the week-by-week goals that have helped lift the No. 10 team.
“We set goals throughout the week on where we want to run,” Gragson said. “We were hoping to qualify in the top 15 and then run top 16 today, so to come home sixth feels really good.
“A big thanks to Drew Blickensderfer (crew chief) and Andy Houston, our spotter, and everybody else on this number 10 team. They’ve been doing a great job with me and I’m excited for the future.”