Gragson Captures Pole and Stage Win in Fourth-Place Finish at Chicagoland

Noah Gragson captured the pole for Friday night’s Overton’s 225 at Chicagoland Speedway, led 42 of the first 70 laps, won Stage Two and ended the night with a fourth-place finish. Gragson’s fifth top-five finish of the season allowed the 19-year-old driver to maintain second place in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series standings with five races remaining before the start of the playoffs.
 
Stage One Recap: 
  • Gragson captured his third pole of the season after posting the fastest lap in each of the two rounds of qualifying on Friday afternoon. After leading the first lap, he settled into the second position behind Dalton Sargeant as he communicated that his Safelite AutoGlass Tundra needed more rear security in the early stages of the race.
  • The Las Vegas native remained in the runner-up spot when a one-truck accident slowed the field for the first time on lap 23. After the lap-26 restart, Gragson was able to work his way back around Sargeant for the race lead on lap 27 and remained out front until lap 34.
  • John Hunter Nemechek worked his way around Gragson on the final lap of Stage One. The No. 18 Tundra would finish the opening stage in the second position. 
Stage Two Recap: 
  • Crew chief Rudy Fugle summoned his driver to pit road between stages for four fresh tires and a full tank of fuel. The Safelite Tundra was the first truck off pit road and would start the second stage in the second spot next to the one truck that elected not to pit between stages.
  • Stage Two went green on lap 41 and Gragson quickly made his way to the front. He would remain out front for the entirety of Stage Two collecting a playoff point. 
Final Stage Recap: 
  • When pit road opened, Gragson brought his Toyota to the attention of his over-the-wall crew who administered a four-tire and fuel stop. The Safelite Tundra lined up second for the start of the Final Stage on lap 77.
  • After the stage went green, the Safelite Tundra began to slowly slide back in the running order as he communicated that he was “four-wheel sliding everywhere.” Gragson was scored in the fifth position with 50 laps remaining and was sixth when the field was slowed for the sixth and final time on lap 121.
  • Gragson hit pit road for four fresh tires, a full tank of fuel and a trackbar adjustment to try and improve the handling for the closing laps.
  • He was scored in the fourth position when the field went back green with 24 laps remaining. The No. 18 Toyota fell back to the fifth spot and was running there on the final lap until leader John Hunter Nemechek ran out of fuel allowing Gragson to end the race with a fourth-place finish. 

KBM PR