Noah Gragson Steals A Win From The Lady In Black

Noah Gragson came from third place to snatch a win away from Sheldon Creed and Kyle Larson on Saturday night (Sept. 3) when he won the Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway.

In one of the most entertaining finishes the Xfinity Series has offered in recent memory, Gragson was able to claim his fourth win of the season with Creed, AJ Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier and Larson rounding out the top five.

I can’t stress enough how important each race going forward is for Creed – I’ve said it for weeks – and tonight was the first time I saw him drive like he realized it, too.

The Winners

Darlington has been very kind to JR Motorsports over the course of the 2022 season. Allgaier was able to take the win there earlier in the season. What’s more, though is that Gragson finished second in that very same race. That puts both JRM drivers inside the top five in both races at The Lady in Black. If a keen stat fan was to zoom out a bit, they would also find Josh Berry inside the top 10 on Saturday. He brought the No. 8 Chevy home in eighth, a huge leap forward from where he finished in the spring race (18th).

The two Darlington winners this year. @J_Allgaier 🤝 @NoahGragson pic.twitter.com/HxtANic68j

— JR Motorsports (@JRMotorsports) September 4, 2022

Aside from JRM, nobody really lived in the headlines on Saturday. Gragson has emerged as the current favorite for the Xfinity championship, but fellow frontrunner Ty Gibbs doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. He was knocking on the door of the leaders all race, but wound up bringing his No. 54 Toyota across the line in sixth.

In this sport, consistency is key, and JRM is the model of that right now. If they can keep their season-long hot streak going, I force a very predictable (that doesn’t mean not fun) result as the season comes to a close.

The Losers

I really do hate to beat a dead horse, but Creed gives us more to talk about each week. I mentioned earlier that Saturday was the first night I had seen him drive like a rookie on the playoff bubble – with nothing to lose. I mean that in all the best ways, but his best opportunity was probably snatched away from him tonight all because he got tangled up with a Cup driver who’s racing for nothing but pride and practice. The two were all smiles after the race, and props to Creed, but I don’t know if I would have been as well collected.

Respect.@sheldoncreed 🤝 @KyleLarsonRacin pic.twitter.com/p4zonMfrt9

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