David TuckerNews-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Noah Gragson breaks down the difference between racing for Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart

Originally posted on FirstSportz | By Justin P Joy | Last updated 3/9/24

Noah Gragson had an eventful rookie season on his Cup full-time debut. He couldn’t find any significant pace in the Legacy MC, a team co-owned by Jimmie Johnson, car and wasn’t able to score any solid finishes. Gragson was ousted from the team ahead of the player over insensitive social media activity by the driver.

He was signed by Stewart Hass Racing, co-owned by Tony Stewart, ahead of the 2024 season as the replacement for Aric Almirola in the No:10 Ford team. After racing in four events with the SHR team, Gragson has detailed why he couldn’t perform at LMC.

While explaining why he struggled in 2024, he pointed out that the main reason he couldn’t produce good results was the cars being very slow. This forced him to take risks and it resulted in more mistakes. Now at SHR, he is more patient with a much faster car.

We had some guys from JR Motorsports who came with us, so it wasn’t a lack of communication by any means. It’s just, the cars at Stewart-Haas, they’ve got a really good pace. As a driver, that allows you to be more patient, because you know that you’re going to have more than one opportunity to pass a car, instead of just taking the first opportunity, when you might not have as much pace Gragson said SiriusXM NASCAR.

Noah Gragson had the best Cup finish of his career last week

Gragson started his 2024 season slow at Mercedes but has made some solid progress over the weeks that made him produce his best result last week at Las Vegas. He scored his first SHR top-10 with a P6 finish.

He was over the moon with the results and was quick to celebrate it. Gragson acknowledged his team’s support and efforts, as he believes it is the start of better days.

This past Sunday in Vegas was the most fun I’ve ever had in a Cup Series race. Just because I was able to pass cars. I was able to, I wasn’t just scared to death I guess, driving the thing. Gragson said.