Gragson Wins a Stage, Finishes 10th at Texas

Date:                           November 3, 2017
Event:                         JAG Metals 350 (Race 21 of 23)
Series:                         NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Location:                    Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth (1.5-mile oval)
Format:                      Three Segments; 35 laps/35 laps/77 laps
Start/Finish:                2^nd / 10^th (running, completed 147 of 147 laps)
Winner:                       Johnny Sauter of GMS Racing (Chevrolet)

Coming off his first victory at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway last weekend, Noah Gragson was hoping to make it two in a row Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth. His Switch Tundra was strong early in the race and he won the second stage, but lost ground at the start of the final stage and had to play catch-up to finish 10^th.

Stage One Recap:

• Gragson started second and was a bit tight early in the race. He ran in the top three until he pitted for right-side tires under caution with a few laps remaining in the stage. He finished the stage in 10^th.

Stage Two Recap:

• Since Gragson stayed out at the end of the stage, he was fourth when the race resumed. With a great restart he jumped up to second. Following a caution on lap 60, he restarted second and took the lead from his KBM teammate, Myatt Snider. He led the final nine laps to take the checkered flag in Stage Two.

Stage Three Recap:

• After a stop for left-side tires, Gragson was 10^th when the final stage began on lap 77. His Switch Tundra became very loose and he brushed the outside wall, which sent him back to 19^th As the air pressure in the tires came up his handling improved, but he had quite a bit of track position to make up.
• By lap 110 he was up to 16^th and running some of the fastest lap times of any truck on the track. He pitted under green for right-side tires and fuel on lap 116. When the field cycled through green-flag stops, Gragson was scored in 10^th place where he finished the race.

NOAH GRAGSON, driver of the No. 18 Switch Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports:

Talk about your race?

“We were decent in the first stage. Then I restarted on the outside in fourth to start the second stage and eventually took the lead. My Switch Tundra was really good in clean air. When we pitted for left-side tires at the end of Stage Two, I was really loose after that. Once the air pressures came up it started to tighten up and we were good after that. It just took a little bit to come in. It was hard to make up time after we fell back to 19^th, but we never stopped fighting and finished 10^th.”

JAG Metals 350 Recap:

• Johnny Sauter won the race followed by Austin Cindric, KBM’s Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe and Justin Haley rounded out the top-five finishers.
• The race featured five cautions for a total of 26 laps. There were 11 lead changes among 10 drivers. All three KBM drivers led laps. Myatt Snider led 21, Christopher Bell 20 and Gragson led nine.

How Gragson’s KBM Teammates Fared:

• Christopher Bell, driver of the No. 4 Toyota, finished 3^rd
• Myatt Snider, driver of the No. 51 Toyota, finished 12^th

NCWTS Driver Championship Standings:

Gragson remains 11th in the Truck Series standings.

Next Race:

Next weekend the Truck Series returns to action Friday, Nov. 10 at Phoenix International Raceway. Live coverage of the race begins with the NCWTS Setup Show at 8 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.