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Noah Gragson Survives Late-Race Restarts To Win At Richmond Raceway

by Hunter Thomas September 11, 2021 1 comment

RICHMOND – Noah Gragson went back-to-back in the NASCAR Xfinity Series after he won the Go Bowling 250 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday afternoon.

With the NASCAR Playoffs just around the corner, Gragson tamed Darlington Raceway last weekend, and on Saturday, the driver of the JR Motorsports No. 9 Bass Pro Shops/True Timber/BRCC Chevrolet survived two late-race restarts (Lap 36 and 43) and led the final 14 laps to earn his second victory of the 2021 season.

“I knew they had tires, but the thing that really kept us alive were those two cautions at the end,” Gragson said. “Today is not about this team or this win, it’s about everybody who lost their lives 20 years ago. We’ve got a lot of heavy hearts, and at least in America, we can come together on this day, and I appreciate all of you race fans for coming out.”

Justin Haley finished second in the Kaulig Racing No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet. The runner-up finished marked his third consecutive top-five effort. He won at Daytona and finished fourth at Darlington.

“It’s just frustrating,” Haley said. “I think maybe if the frontstretch was on the other end of the field here, we would’ve been ok or one of those last late cautions didn’t come out. I was fully prepared to do anything it took to win. We had better tires; we were so fast.”

John Hunter Nemecheck earned Sam Hunt Racing’s first-ever top-five finish in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with a third-place effort.

“Solid run,” Nemecheck said. “The Safeway Toyota Supra was fast. We were able to drive from the back there to the top-10. We ran top-10 pretty much all day. I don’t think we had enough of a car to win there, but we definitely made the most out of the day. Just validating Sam Hunt Racing’s equipment and it’s definitely fast. I wish we wouldn’t have got off on the first adjustment. I made the wrong call or asked for the wrong thing, thinking that is what I needed and it put us a little bit behind the eight ball, but overall really solid day for our Safeway Toyota Supra.”

Justin Allgaier and Riley Herbst rounded out the top-five. Completing the top-10 was Daniel Hemric, Ty Gibbs, Brandon Brown, Harrison Burton and Jeb Burton.

AJ Allmendinger won Stage 1, and Gibbs won Stage 2.

Gibbs also led a race high of 67 laps.

There were nine cautions for 58 laps during the Go Bowling 250.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series will visit Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday, September 19. Live coverage of the Food City 300 will broadcast on NBCSN and PRN at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Photo Credit: Hunter Thomas/TheFourthTurn.com