HOMESTEAD, Fla. — There was no denying Noah Gragson as he executed a near-perfect day during the Contender Boats 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday afternoon, leading 127 laps and winning all three stages.
The JR Motorsports driver leads the NASCAR Xfinity Series standings and has secured his spot in the Championship Four.
“I wanted this one so bad, the last three years,” Gragson said following the race. “Words can’t describe how thankful I am for everybody at JR Motorsports … Man, I’m worn out right now.”
It only took two laps for a caution to arise in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race.
J.J. Yeley crashed with Jeb Burton, Josh Berry and Riley Herbst, sustaining considerable damage to the right-front of his No. 66 Rick Ware Racing entry. The car was wheeled to the garage after several minutes on pit road.
The No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing driver Trevor Bayne resumed the lead on the restart with Ty Gibbs and Gragson within striking distance behind him. The battle for fifth picked up speed among A.J. Allmendinger, Sheldon Creed and Daniel Hemric on lap 21. Allmendinger maintained his line, holding down fifth, while Hemric’s attempt to pass him on the outside backfired and sent him to seventh.
Gragson leapt into the lead on lap 23, while Bayne was passed by teammate Gibbs in the No. 54 Toyota a few laps later.
Austin Hill held steady in fourth until lap 32 when Landon Cassill swept past Allmendinger and Hill on a charge towards the front. Cassill carried the momentum, passing Bayne and heading straight for the rear bumper of Gibbs. By lap 37, Cassill had completed the move on the No. 54.
Meanwhile, Gragson led by more than five seconds.
A second caution came out on lap 42 when C.J. McLaughlin spun in turn three. The field was given the green flag on lap 49 and as drivers jostled for position on the track, Gragson continued to lead.
Hill stole the lead in his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing entry on lap 55 and maintained it through lap 71, when Gragson took it back. Gragson held on to win stage two, with Allmendinger and Hill rounding out the top three.
The race resumed on lap 95. The lead changed hands several times through the next six laps, going first to Gragson, then to Hill and finally to Bayne on lap 101. Bayne’s bad luck began on lap 125 when Gragson swept by him, and it continued as Allmendinger, Hill and Berry also passed the No. 18.
After a round of pit stops, Berry became the fifth driver to lead the Contender Boats 300, but his time in the spotlight was short-lived as Gragson returned to the front of the field. Hill interrupted his solid performance with a pit stop as the race neared 30 laps to go — he reported feeling a vibration in his No. 21 Chevrolet.
With 15 laps to go, Gragson had a 9.547-second lead over Berry and a 10.260-second lead on Allmendinger, but the comfortable gap was eliminated on lap 187 when the caution flag waved. All eyes were on the JR Motorsports driver, waiting to see his next move.
Despite the restart bunching up the field, Gragson drove away to victory, finishing .550 seconds ahead of Gibbs and .932 seconds ahead of Allmendinger.
“I feel like we were just battling all day. I gave it my all here,” Gibbs said. “This place is pretty tough. I feel like we were battling the car a little bit, which makes it harder. Come out with a P2 finish and we’re plus 30 so I think that’s pretty strong.”
Hemric and Mayer rounded out the top five.
Gragson and Berry are now locked into the Championship Four.