Getty Noah Gragson (right) greets teammate Sam Mayer at Michigan.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Daytona International Speedway for one of four remaining races in the regular season. AJ Allmendinger will have the pole as he pursues win No. 4, but a winless driver will join him on the front row. Noah Gragson will line up second and aim to secure his spot in the playoffs.
The JR Motorsports driver has performed consistently after a slow start to the season, putting himself 195 points above the playoff cut line. In the past nine races, Gragson has only finished outside of the top 10 once, a 14-place run at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He also has top-fives at Michigan (third), Indianapolis Motor Speedway (fifth), Atlanta Motor Speedway (third), and Pocono (fourth).
Allmendinger on the pole Friday night for Xfinity race at Daytona. Gragson to start beside him.
Gragson moved to the front row of the order based on NASCAR’s starting lineup formula. The equation relies on the fastest lap from the previous race (15%), the driver’s finishing position (25%), the team owner’s finishing position (25%), and the team owner’s points ranking (35%).
Gragson will not be the only winless driver starting in a solid position to pursue a secure spot in the playoffs. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Brandon Jones will line up on the second row while his teammate Harrison Burton takes a spot on the third row. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst will join Burton on the third row. All three drivers are above the cut line with four races remaining, but they will strive to lock up their respective spots.
Gragson Has a Mixed History at Daytona
GettyNoah Gragson celebrates a win at Daytona International Speedway in 2020.
The driver of the No. 9 JRM Chevrolet Camaro has a previous win at the site of the Aug. 27 race. He kicked off the 2020 season by racing to Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway. He led 15 laps and held off Burton to lock up the first Xfinity Series win of his career.
While Gragson has celebrated at the World Center of Racing, he has also experienced heartache at the 2.5-mile superspeedway. In five total starts, Gragson has finished 11th, 15th, first, 31st, and 32nd. This list includes two crashes in the two most recent trips.
The season-opening race at Daytona, in particular, stands out as a low point of Gragson’s 2021 campaign. He entered the race with the goal of winning again but left early after a massive wreck that collected several drivers. The incident started when one driver spun Michael Annett toward the outside wall where he collided with Jeffrey Earnhardt. Gray Gaulding had nowhere to go and slammed into the rear of Earnhardt’s stock car.
Gragson actually avoided the wreck as it unfolded behind him, but he had to check up after moving to the left and pulling up behind a slower stock car. It was at this moment that an out-of-control Bayley Currey slid up from behind and slammed into Gragson, destroying the rear of his stock car and sending him to the garage.
The driver of the No. 9 will now strive to avoid a similar incident when he suits up for his sixth career Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway. No driver ever knows when “the big one” will occur, but they all expect it.
Gragson’s Teammate Returns to Daytona
When Gragson climbs into the No. 9 for the race at Daytona, he will see the return of a teammate. Michael Annett, the driver of the No. 1 JRM Chevrolet Camaro, missed the past two races while recovering from surgery to repair a stress fracture in his right femur. Josh Berry and Chase Elliott stepped in and replaced him at Michigan International Speedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, respectively.
JRM issued a release on Wednesday, Aug. 25, confirming that Annett will be back in the No. 1 for the race at Daytona as he battles Riley Herbst for a spot in the playoffs. The veteran has past success at the track with a win in 2019 on his career resume. Annett also has top-five finishes in 2012 and 2020.
“It’s always good to go back to Daytona, and I feel pretty good this week,” Annett said, per the JRM website. “Big thank-you to Josh Berry and Chase Elliott for stepping in during my recovery, and I can’t wait to get back in the car this weekend. We are in the thick of the battle for the playoffs, and these four races are extremely important in getting this No. 1 Pilot Flying J Driver Appreciation Chevrolet in to battle for a series championship.”
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