Noah Gragson has quickly become one of NASCAR’s most polarizing figures. No matter how you feel about the youngster from Las Vegas, Nevada, one thing is for sure, he certainly has some talent.
It was that talent that made Petty GMS Motorsports decide that he should be part of their organization. On Wednesday (Aug. 10), the organization announced the 24-year-old will drive its No. 42 entry full-time in 2023. Gragson will take the place of Ty Dillon, who will not return to the team after 2022.
Dillon currently sits 30th in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings and is a long shot at making the playoffs. Will Gragson be able to carry that team to the playoffs in 2023? Clayton Caldwell and Anthony Damcott discuss whether or not the hire of Gragson will push the No. 42 to the next level.
Don’t Set Expectations Too High
The announcement of Noah Gragson driving the No. 42 for Petty GMS Motorsports is not a surprise in the slightest. But now that he’s been announced, everybody is beginning to set expectations for how he will do in 2023.
But I believe that people need to pump the brakes on any expectation of him making the playoffs next year. 2023 will be Gragson’s first full-time Cup season. Sure, he’s running a part-time schedule this year for Beard Motorsports and Kaulig Racing, but part-time is a different ballgame than full-time, especially when you currently run full-time on Saturdays.
Petty GMS is pretty set on keeping Gragson long-term as a teammate to Erik Jones. In terms of young driver rosters, Petty GMS has got a pretty good lineup. And it’s for this reason that 2023 should be Gragson’s warm-up year, per se. He has an entire Cup career ahead of him, so the fact that people are already talking about him making the playoffs in his first season is jumping the gun a little bit.
Yes, it’s happened before (like, this season, thanks to rookie Austin Cindric) that a rookie makes the playoffs, but every rookie who has made the playoffs the past few years have been with a team that is typically in the playoff conversation regardless: Cindric with Team Penske, Cole Custer with Stewart-Haas Racing (2020), Denny Hamlin with Joe Gibbs Racing (2006). Petty GMS Motorsports is not a team that is normally in the playoff conversation.
Erik Jones has come close this season and last, but right now they are not a playoff team but even he with all his experience couldn’t make the playoffs yet. I don’t expect Gragson to come in and suddenly change…
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