RICHMOND, Va. – Noah Gragson is getting hot at exactly the right time.
After going winless through the first 23 NASCAR Xfinity Series races of the season, Gragson earned his second-straight victory during Saturday’s Go Bowling 250 at Richmond Raceway.
The victory came on the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, a point that wasn’t lost on Gragson.
“Today is not about this team or this win, it’s about everybody who lose their life 20 years ago,” Gragson said. “We’ve got a lot of heavy hearts and at least in America we can come together on this day.
“It’s an emotional day. It’s a special day. But it’s not about us today.”
Gragson capitalized on pit strategy to earn his fourth career Xfinity Series victory. Each team was down to one set of fresh tires during the final stage of the race and most of the leaders hit the pits to get the those tires during a caution period with a little less than 70 laps left.
At that point the man in charge of the race was Harrison Burton, who along with Gragson was among the drivers who pitted for fresh tires. Only a handful of drivers opted not to pit and Burton was able to quickly dispatch them when the race resumed to take the lead with 59 laps left.
Had the race run clean to the finish Burton likely would have been the winner, but a caution on lap 224 for an incident in turn two changed things and allowed nearly everyone to hit pit road again.
Most of those with no fresh tires left came in for scuff tires while a group of drivers, including Justin Haley, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Riley Herbst came in for their final set of fresh tires. A.J. Allmendinger, Austin Cindric and Brandon Jones were the only three who opted not to pit.
Gragson was among those who hit the pits for a set of scuff tires and he lined up fifth for the restart with 20 laps left. He quickly advanced two positions to third before the caution waved for Tommy Joe Martins, who had slammed into the outside wall in turn one.
The Las Vegas native made his move during the next restart. He got a big run around the top and was able to take the race lead from Allmendinger moments before the caution waved again for an incident on the frontstretch.
The race would resume with seven laps left and Gragson quickly darted away, but behind him Haley was coming in a hurry after restarting seventh on the freshest tires in the field. He made it all the way to second with four laps left and was running down Gragson, but he ran out of time.
Gragson crossed the finish line two car lengths ahead of Haley and celebrated with a massive burnout on the frontstretch to the delight of the fans.
“I knew that they had tires, but the thing that really kept us alive were those two cautions at the end,” Gragson said. “We’re starting to get momentum at the right time.”
John Hunter Nemechek, making a rare Xfinity Series start for Sam Hunt Racing, finished third. Justin Allgaier and Herbst completed the top-five.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., making his lone Xfinity Series start of the season, finished 14th after a late pit road penalty.