When Noah Gragson signed into a new team in 2025, expectations were high. Two top-five qualifying spots and a best finish of 3rd place in Talladega marked his first full-time season in 2024. What is more, Gragson started 2025 with a bang – nobody missed the three-wide pass he made at the two-lane-wide Bowman Gray track during the Cook Out Clash. However, 17 races later, everybody is missing out on what Gragson is doing.
The 26-year-old’s transition from Stewart-Haas Racing to Front Row Motorsports attracted a lot of attention. Currently, Noah Gragson’s FRM seat looks jittery at best. His sophomore season seems to be going wrong, leaving ripples of concern in the community.
Why Noah Gragson is not at his best
Well, there was a time when the Las Vegas native turned heads and made jaws drop. During his Xfinity Series campaign under JR Motorsports in 2019-2022, Noah Gragson picked up 13 wins. In 2022, he even scored four victories in a row. However, that Xfinity luster all but fizzled out during his Cup Series debut in 2023. Lackluster stats coupled with a team suspension almost brought his career to a halt. In 2024, Gragson made a comeback under Tony Stewart’s guidance, picking up an average finish of 19.6. This year, however, he looks nowhere close to crossing that mark. Currently, in the 32nd position in the championship standings, Gragson has overcome 4 DNFs so far to clinch just 3 top tens and 1 top five.
Hence, Noah Gragson’s No. 4 Ford is attracting raised eyebrows in the community. A NASCAR fan posted his concerns about the driver’s glaring disparity in stats on Reddit: “What is going on with Noah Gragson? I thought that he would be performing better in better equipment but he is still struggling. Is the equipment not as good as we thought it was or is Noah Gragson simply not a good Cup driver? I know he was great in Xfinity but that doesn’t always translate over.” The only area where Gragson has excelled is the All-Star Race Fan Vote which he won. Yet his goal of $1 Million went out the window with a 13th-place finish.
LONG POND, PA – JULY 23: Noah Gragson 42 Sunseeker Resort LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Chevrolet during driver introductions prior to the NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Series Highpoint 400 on July 23, 2023 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire AUTO: JUL 23 NASCAR Cup Series Highpoint 400 EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon23072321194
Now another opportunity has presented itself for a million dollars and Noah Gragson is determined to leave a mark. Being paired up with Chase Briscoe for NASCAR’s in-season tournament, Gragson is ready to face the first round at the Quaker State 400. Although Briscoe is fresh off his first victory in Pocono, Gragson is ready to face his opponent: “We’re paying attention to see who we’re up against, but you can’t really do a whole lot until the race starts. Once we strap the helmets on, we keep tabs on them.” What is more, he declared his and his team’s intentions to improve: “Where we’re at at Front Row Motorsports, we’re growing as an organization. I think this is a stepping stone to say,’ Hey, we’re here to compete.’”
No matter how optimistic Noah Gragson sounds in his words, fans are not convinced.
NASCAR community drops warnings
After all, Noah Gragson was once a trendsetter. However, that was in the Xfinity Series, where the car is supremely different from the Gen 7 Cup Series car. This year, Gragson has faced mishaps several times – like spinning with John Hunter Nemechek in Michigan or hitting the wall in Mexico City. Hence a fan pointed out, “He hasn’t been consistent this year. But when he is having a good run, something goes wrong, that’s not of his own doing. He’s lost quite a few top 15 runs due to just bad luck.” Somebody else also observed how frequently Gragson’s luck turns sour. They wrote, “I watch his on board every week. Every time he’s running well, he gets caught up in someone else’s mess. Every. Single. Time. The one time he spun on his own he came back to finish top 15.”
The No. 4 logo was once associated with a great NASCAR legend. Kevin Harvick wheeled that logo to 37 Cup Series victories and a 2014 championship under SHR. Hence, Noah Gragson’s sophomore season is not doing enough justice to that number, as a fan pointed out. They compared him to Todd Bodine, who won 22 races in the Craftsman Truck Series, and also David Green who won his only race in 1994. “He’s just not that good. Decent bottom tier Cup driver but he’s not a champion contender in this series and has been coasting off his personality for the last 2 years. He’s basically David Green or Todd Bodine.”
Nevertheless, Noah Gragson is not without potential. He wheeled his car from a 27th-place starting spot to a remarkable 4th-place finish in Talladega, a track that engulfed many rivals in smoking crashes. So one fan wrote cautiously, “Shown flashes of potential, but Gragson doesn’t come across as a future Cup Series championship contender.” What is more, Front Row Motorsports has been dealing with a lot. From Michael McDowell moving to the ongoing NASCAR lawsuit, there is a lot on the team’s plate. So somebody asked for patience: “Very bad luck this year, and on a team with a lot of growing pains. Give them a year or two and I think they’ll be fine.”
Clearly, Noah Gragson is on a rocky path at present. Only time will tell if the driver can overcome it or not.
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