Sept 3 , 2022: during practice at Darlington Raceway in Darlington , SC, . , . . . (HHP/Andrew Coppley
Noah Gragson celebrates his Darlington win. (HHP/Andrew Coppley
NASCAR Xfinity Series

Noah Gragson Wins Darlington Barn Burner

September 3, 2022

Noah Gragson defended his win in the fall NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway with a self-proclaimed “hell of a show.”

There’s really no arguing it.

While the JR Motorsports driver dominated the race with 82 laps led, the only thing anyone will remember is the final two laps.

Gragson was in third place at the time, racing in the wake of leader Sheldon Creed and defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson.

Creed had led 47 of last 48 laps before he and Larson raced side-by-side to the white flag, with Larson just ahead as they crossed the start-finish line for the final time.

Larson had squeezed by Gragson for second place as they exited Turn 2 with four laps to go.

As Creed and Larson roared into Turn 1, Larson appeared set to get clear with the lead, only for Creed to side-draft him. That resulted their cars rubbing doors all the way through the turn. They did so again upon exiting Turn 2. This allowed Gragson to zoom up on them down the backstretch. 

In the moment, Creed had a tire go down.

As Gragson cleared Larson for second, Creed sent his No. 2 Chevrolet into the outside wall in an effort to keep his momentum going. 

It failed. Even as Gragson got into the wall himself, he was able to get away from the wall as Creed continued riding it through to the exit of Turn 4.

As the checkered flag waved, Gragson crossed the finish line ahead of Creed, who barely finished ahead of AJ Allmendinger in third.

It’s Gragson’s fourth win of the season.

 

“Damn, I’m worn out. That was badass,” an exhausted Gragson told NBC Sports after he and his teammembers climbed the frontstretch catchfence in celebration. “(Larson) was coming on there strong. (Creed) was good.”

Gragson was so drained by the finish, the interview needed to be cut short for him to collect himself.

“I did such a big ass burnout, all the smoke got in my visor, I was breathing it in and got a little dizzy,” Gragson said. “Sheldon Creed was really fast. … I watched during the rain delay him running the top and (Turns) 1 and 2, and I knew there was a lot of speed there, so I went up there and I found something. Sheldon pinched me off and (Larson) got by me then it was three to go and I was like, ‘they’re going to get into each other racing too hard.”

Creed, who managed to place second, and Larson, who finished fifth, shared a handshake and laugh after exiting their cars.

For Creed, it was his best finish of the season after two previous finishes in fifth (New Hampshire and Pocono). It came after the Richard Childress Racing driver had won at Darlington twice in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

“Gosh, I was just trying to hold on,” Creed told NBC Sports. “Had a really fast car, was just a little too free to run their speed there at the end. They could run up the hill in (Turns) 1 and 2 and really get a good run down the backstretch where I would have to stay really low to keep the rear of the car underneath me. I was hoping they’d get to racing behind me and let me go to there. When Kyle got next to me, my only real opportunity was to go and slide job him as hard as I could. 

“I got in the wall and I felt the right front go down going down the backstretch and my only option was to hit it against the fence like I was playing X-Box or something. It worked for a while, but I just got stuck in it. Man, I wish it would have worked. That would have been a playoff spot.”

If anyone knows what it’s like to execute a video game maneuver in Turn 3 at Darlington, it’s Larson. He did almost the exact same thing on the last lap of last year’s Southern 500 in a desperate attempt to get by Denny Hamlin for the win, only to finish second.

Larson’s fifth-place finish came after he went multiple laps down at the end of the first stage after cutting a tire.

“It was a lot of fun,” Larson told NBC Sports. “I was trying to be patient as I caught them racing (each other) and hopefully get by both of them. I was able to get by Noah when they got side-by-side off of (Turn) 2. I could see Sheldon was really loose, so I was trying to stay patient behind him. … I didn’t want to get to his inside on the frontstretch because I knew what would happen … but I had so much momentum off of (Turn) 4, I had to make the move.

“He used all of my door and got me really loose. I had to chase it up the track and got into him. Just a lot of fun. He was racing hard for his first win.  … Crazy to be part of a finish like that. …. That was one of the best finishes we’ve seen in a long time.”

 

Click here for the race results.

After Brandon Jones started from the pole, Gragson took the lead for the first time on Lap 5.

He stay there until the end of the stage, winning over Jones. Larson had charged up to third early on, at time threatening to take second from Jones with help from lapped traffic. But with three laps to go in the stage, he had to pit for a flat right rear tire after running over debris.

The first stage came to an end as a storm front approached from the south.

During the pace laps after pit stops, the No. 23 of Anthony Alfredo slammed into the back of John Hunter Nemechek’s No. 26 Toyota on the backstretch. The incident happened after both drivers received pit penalties that sent them to the back of the field.

The bizarre incident ended Alfredo’s day. Alfredo later said the incident was a result of him being ill and dry heaving in the car.

The race resumed on Lap 56 with Gragson leading over Justin Allgaier, who moved into second after pushing Gragson out front. The race would be considered halfway after Lap 74.

The first caution for an incident came on Lap 57 for a wreck involving Riley Herbst, Kris Wright and Myatt Snider as they exited Turn 2. 

Herbst was eliminated from the race after his Damaged Vehicle Policy clock expired.

The race went back to green on Lap 62, 12 laps from halfway, as Gragson kept the lead as Jones moved back into second.

The caution came back out two laps later for rain. The field paced the track until NASCAR brought the cars to pit road on Lap 68 and put out the red flag, six laps from the halfway point.

The red flag would not be lifted until 6:49 ET, a two hour and 37 minute delay. The field would pace the track during further drying efforts until the green flag returned on Lap 78 with 13 laps left in Stage 2.

Gragson quickly established the lead while Allgaier took the second spot. Allgaier hugged Gragson’s bumper until he sweeped by to take the lead with eight laps to go in the stage.

With Gragson hounding him, Allgaier held him off until the caution came out with three lap left when JJ Yeley’s engine expired.

The stage would end under yellow, with Allgaier winning over Gragson, Bell, Jones, Hill and Creed.

Under the caution, Hill was first off pit road ahead of Allgaier and Gragson. Meanwhile, Bell lost six spots while Larson received the free pass, putting him back on the lead lap.

The race resumed with 50 laps to go as Allgaier jumped ahead of Hill, only to have Creed get by him on the outside exiting Turn 4 to take the lead. Within a lap, Hill was in second as Allgaier tried to hold off Gragson for third. Gragson would complete the pass with 47 to go.

Within another four laps, Creed was in the lead over Hill and Gragson. Gragson would get by Hill with 36 laps to go.

The caution returned with 20 laps to go when Jones spun on his own exiting Turn 4.

That had Creed leading over Gragson, Allgaier and Gibbs before pit stops.The pit cycle saw Creed get out first ahead of Gragson, Gibbs, Allmendinger and Allgaier.

The green flag waved for the final time with 14 laps to go.