By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service
FORT WORTH, Texas — Noah Gragson parked his No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet at the finish line, emerged through his car’s roof flap and raised his arms in triumph taking in the loud cheers from the Texas Motor Speedway grandstands as he celebrated a historic fourth consecutive NASCAR Xfinity Series victory Saturday afternoon in the Andy’s Frozen Custard 300.
It was a series best and career-high seventh win on the season for the 24-year old Las Vegas native and automatically reserves his spot in the next round of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs. That fourth consecutive victory is significant historically as well – tying one of the longstanding records- set in 1983 – by Sam Ard.
Although it was a tumultuous Playoff opener for many of the championship contenders, Gragson was out front often and ultimately when he needed to be. He didn’t win a Stage, but led a race best 85-of-200 laps and held off fellow 2022 Playoff contenders Austin Hill and Ty Gibbs by 1.238-seconds to earn the big trophy – and even more momentum at just the right time of the calendar.
“This No. 9 team, man, they’re on fire and all you fans, you keep us motivated,’’ Gragson told the cheering grandstands. “We’re gonna come back and win more races for you. You guys are awesome and we appreciate you. Thanks for coming out.
“Just this team, I mean the pit crew’s done awesome and our car was as fast as Xfinity internet all day and I’m just so thankful for the opportunity.’’
“Such a relief,’’ he continued. “We lost this race back in 2020 and just executed a great race [today],’’ he continued.
Eight Playoff cars finished in the Top-10. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst was fifth, followed by Playoff driver Josh Berry (JR Motorsports), Sheldon Creed, Playoff drivers Sam Mayer (JR Motorsports) and Ryan Sieg (Ryan Sieg Racing). C.J. McLaughlin was 10th – the first Top-10 of his career.
Compared to his closest competitors, Gragson’s day was more a matter of holding court. Several other race contenders and Playoff competitors had busier days of survival and the power of positive thinking.
Both Gibbs, who finished third and regular season champion A.J. Allmendinger, who finished fourth, had to rally to those finishing positions. Gibbs started the race from the rear of the field after failing technical inspection. And the two-time regular season champion Allmendinger? He just had a…
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