According to Noah Gragson, the aggression meter for NASCAR Cup Series drivers hits red during the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum.
With only 150 laps to make something happen on the temporary, tight quarter-mile track inside the L.A. Memorial Coliseum, there isn’t much time to waste.
“It’s a lot different than what we might do at Martinsville and Bristol and Richmond, the regular short-track races. They’re much longer too, so you’re not in as much of a hurry to get to the front,” Gragson described. “But at the Clash, whenever somebody can get to you, you’re getting blasted or you’re blasting the guy in front of you.”
Move or be moved is essentially the way it works.
As the non-points race marks the first event of the 2024 Cup Series campaign, drivers are also jockeying to get comfortable in a race car again after a three-month offseason.
The uphill battle will be even steeper for Gragson, who hasn’t competed since the Cook Out 400 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway on July 30. He was indefinitely suspended by NASCAR later that week on Aug. 5 for liking a racially insensitive social media post.
The snowball effect of his suspension involved leaving his full-time ride with Legacy Motor Club and participating in diversity and inclusion training.
The 25-year-old was reinstated by NASCAR on Sept. 12, and three months later, he inked a full-time contract with Stewart-Haas Racing to wheel the No. 10 Ford in the Cup Series.
The Clash will be Gragson’s first race with SHR, as well as with his new crew chief, Drew Blickensderfer.
“It takes a long time to be like peanut butter and jelly with the crew chief, it takes a while to get that communication where you’re finishing sentences for each other,” Gragson said. “It’s good to get an extra rep before the real season starts with the Daytona 500.”
While he’s viewing the Clash as more of a learning experience, he also doesn’t have the luxury to take it slow once he arrives in L.A.
“They only take the top 23 guys and you have to race your way in. It reminds me a lot of going to the Snowball Derby and having that pressure to qualify well, having heat races so you can transfer to the main, having a good starting spot,” Gragson explained. “The pressure of that, it’s like, we’ve got to have all our ducks in a row before we get there.
“We can’t be trying to learn and fine-tune stuff.”
Last year, there were 36 cars on the entry list and only 27 lined up for the event.
Gragson made the event as a Cup Series rookie last season while driving the No. 42 Chevrolet for Legacy Motor Club. He finished 14th in the 150-lapper.
“Everything was going smoothly, nobody was really too dirty and then we got in the race and it was like we all forgot how to drive and everyone’s just trying to get to the front as fast as they can,” Gragson said. “It’s that train effect where everybody’s just stacking up.”
Though it likely won’t be an easy task — on the track or off it — Gragson is anxious to take advantage of the second chance that SHR has given him.
The process of proving he’s where he belongs will start on Saturday at 6:10 p.m. (ET) with Cup Series practice at the Coliseum.