Gragson Takes Second-Straight Fall Darlington Race

Photo by Peter Stratta/TSJSports

NASCAR

Gragson Wins Rain-Impacted Darlington Xfinity Series Race

DARLINGTON, S.C. – Noah Gragson was the best Xfinity car all race long at Darlington. Driver 9 won this race for the second-straight year, but only after a very entertaining last lap that saw Gragson go from third to the lead. As the Playoffs near, JR Motorsports is looking nearly unstoppable.

After starting second, Noah Gragson was dominant in Stage 1. Despite tangling late with a few lapped cars, Gragson took the Stage win over polesitter Brandon Jones.

Not long after Stage 2 began, rain moved in to Darlington, pausing the race just shy of halfway. Once racing finally resumed close to three hours later, Justin Allgaier made a late pass over Gragson for the Stage 2 win.

A late round of pit stops gave Austin Hill the lead over Gragson, with his teammate Sheldon Creed taking the top spot not long after. Creed managed a one-second gap in the closing laps over Gragson, until a caution for a spinning Brandon Jones.

This restart would put Gragson on Creed’s bumper, and also introduce a new contender, Kyle Larson. The last run to the checkers saw the 2, 9, and 17 under a blanket for the lead, with the win coming down to the last lap.

At the white flag, Larson made a move to the inside of Creed. The 17 and 2 made contact, with Creed brushing the turn two wall. Going into three for the final time, Gragson took them three-wide, with Creed pounding the wall again. After the 9 bounced off the wall himself, Gragson beat the other two back to the checkers.

“All you fans, was that cool—did we put on a show for you guys?” Gragson shouted to the crowd. “Sheldon Creed was really fast… I watched, during that rain delay, him running the top in (Turns) 1 and 2, and I knew there was a lot of speed there.

“So I went up there and I found something, and Sheldon pinched me off, and the 17 got by me when it was like three to go, and I was like, ‘Oh, they’re going to get into each other—they’re racing too hard.’ He’s got nothing to lose, He’s racing his tail off, and Kyle’s going for a win.”

With win number four on the year, Noah Gragson is positioned very nicely for a deep Playoff run. Heading into the Xfinity Playoffs, Gragson could be the man to beat over the seven-race chase.

Behind Gragson and Creed were AJ Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier, Kyle Larson, Ty Gibbs, Christopher Bell, Josh Berry, John Hunter Nemechek, and Austin Hill. Hear from some of these drivers below.

Up next for the Xfinity Series is Kansas Speedway on Saturday. The Kansas Lottery 300 is the second-to-last race of the Xfinity regular season, as a few Playoff spots are still up for grabs. Coverage begins at 3:00 p.m. ET on USA, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

Written by Peter Stratta

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Photo Credit to Peter Stratta/TSJSports