CUP: Noah Gragson rallies from early issues, only to be eliminated in late-race Turn 7 stack-up
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
ALL PHOTOS: Brock Beard
Noah Gragson picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Toyota / Save Mart 350 at the Sonoma Raceway when his #4 Long John Silver’s Ford crashed after 99 of 110 laps.
The finish, which came in Gragson’s 95th series start, was his first of the season and first in a Cup Series race since July 14, 2024 at Pocono – one day short of an exact year – 35 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 46th for the #4, the 691st from a crash, and the 760th for Ford. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 76th for the #4, the 1,070th for Ford, and the 1,426th from a crash.
Gragson’s history at the Sonoma track could be considered a reflection of the driver’s changing fortunes. In the ARCA Menards Series, he finished 7th in 2015, 2nd to Chase Elliott in 2016, then was declared the winner in 2019 after Ryan Preece was penalized for jumping the last restart (incidentally, my photo on the main page of this website is me attempting to interview Preece after that race). The track’s XFINITY Series race wasn’t added to the calendar until Gragson had graduated to the Cup Series, where as a rookie in 2023, he suffered an injury at Gateway, handing the wheel of his #42 to Grant Enfinger. Gragson then returned to finish 26th last season as SHR began to wind down as an organization.
As it happens, Gragson entered the Sonoma race on the eve of another potentially career-altering moment. In the ongoing antitrust lawsuit between his employer Front Row Motorsports and fellow three-car team 23XI Racing against NASCAR, a recent ruling by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals means both teams could potentially lose their Charters as soon as next week’s race in Dover. While likely anticipated by both teams, it nevertheless remained a point of concern for Gragson and the five other drivers involved. Still, the team pushed forward. In practice, Gragson ranked 19th with a best lap of 77.229 seconds (92.763mph), but only qualified 32nd of the 37 entrants with a lap of 76.299 seconds (93.894mph).
Securing the 37th and final starting spot was Katherine Legge, whose #78 e.l.f. Cosmetics Chevrolet was the only car to not take time in qualifying, the result of a brake issue that came up when her Live Fast Motorsports entry was slowest in practice. The car had been pushed out of line prior to qualifying, which surprised the team’s spotters, who weren’t aware of the issue.
Legge did not incur a redundant tail-end penalty for the repairs, so she remained in the 37th spot on Sunday, where she and 36th-place Cody Ware in the #51 Mighty Fire Breaker Ford weren’t side-by-side, but instead both running by themselves, each scurrying to catch the tail end of the pack off Turn 11. By the end of Lap 1, Ware caught the cars in front of him, but Legge was already trailing Ware by about a second. By Lap 4, Legge was entering Turn 11 as Ware exited it, and by Lap 6, Ware was trying to pass Erik Jones, whose #43 Dollar Tree Toyota picked up a trash bag on his grille. By Lap 11, PRN’s radio broadcast said Legge’s engine note sounded off-key, but she still remained more than 20 seconds ahead of the leaders. Ahead of her, the long green-flag run took its toll on tires, dropping Spire Motorsports teammates Justin Haley in the #7 Nations Guard Chevrolet and Carson Hocevar in the #77 Delaware Life Chevrolet to the back along with Kyle Busch’s #8 zone Chevrolet. But all of them only fell as far back as 36th due to the gap back to Legge. Still, the now 36th-place Hocevar was struggling so much with rear grip that Legge closed to within a second of Hocevar by the end of Stage 1 on Lap 26, when the first caution fell.
Under the ensuing caution, Busch took the spot with Ware in 36th and Legge up to 35th. This didn’t last long as, exiting Turn 2 on the Lap 30 restart, A.J. Allmendinger spun out of 5th in his #16 Big Sipz Chevrolet, followed by an incident in the Esses between Cole Custer in the #41 Autodesk / Haas Tooling Ford and John Hunter Nemechek in the #42 Mobil 1 Toyota. All three cars continued under green with only Nemechek carrying some cosmetic damage to the nose of his car, but he soon trailed the field by open track. Before he could take last place, Hocevar came down pit road after he spun off track, dropping him 22 seconds back of the now 36th-place Nemechek. This put Hocevar in race leader Shane van Gisbergen’s crosshairs on Lap 44, and Hocevar pulled into the high lane at Turn 11 as he went one lap down. Hocevar remained in last through the end of Stage 2 on Lap 57, when he earned his lap back under that caution.
On the Lap 60 restart, Hocevar had selected the shorter right-hand lane at the “Choose Cone,” allowing him to move past a stacked-up inside line trailed by Ty Dillon in the #10 Sea Best Chevrolet. Dillon only held the spot for a few turns as Gragson spun at Turn 3A, dropping him to last by open track. Gragson was then saved by the day’s first caution for cause on Lap 62. This time, it was Ryan Blaney in trouble in his #12 Menards / Delta Ford. Heading up the hill to Turn 2, Blaney was locked in a door-to-door battle for 4th with Chris Buescher when the two made contact, sending Blaney skating through the grass and across an access road, where his car became stuck in a drainage ditch. This stranded Blaney long enough to lose a lap under the ensuing caution, moving him to last behind Gragson. Back under power, it was now Blaney’s turn to keep pace as best he could in hopes of earning the “Lucky Dog” just as Hocevar had.
With 27 to go and the final round of pit stops about to begin, all 37 cars were still running with Blaney’s the only car one lap down. As the leaders began to trickle onto pit road, Blaney was still near the back of the pack, moving past Legge, Jones, and Ware. With 26 to go, he swung wide in Turn 11 to allow faster traffic to get by on their fresh tires. There were just 15 laps to go when Ware’s car lost its unsecured right-rear wheel after a pit stop, the wheel coming loose at the peak of Turn 3A. Nemechek nearly struck the wheel at the entrance of Turn 4 before the caution fell, under which Ware made it to pit road. Curiously, Blaney did not earn his “Lucky Dog” as Ware, who brought out the yellow, had also lost a lap, and would now be three down after the two-lap penalty.
This led to one more round of pit stops and the Lap 100 restart, and the incident that finally ended the last-place battle. After their earlier incidents dropped them to the back of the pack, Hocevar found himself in 7th with Gragson in 11th. Heading down The Chute into Turn 7, Gragson made an aggressive move to the inside, sizing up 10th-place Josh Berry in the #21 eero Ford. But when the hole closed, the two made contact, sending Gragson over the curb and spinning into oncoming traffic. Several cars cleared Gragson before the nose of his car was struck by the right-front of Ryan Preece’s #60 Body Guard Ford, destroying the nose of the #4. Gragson spun his car again to get going, but ultimately needed a tow to the garage. The car was brought through the perimeter parking lots before it re-entered the Cup garage at the Turn 11 side, where the team was loading up. Per his PR representative, Gragson declined to be interviewed.
Gragson’s car towed back to the garage.
Gragson’s crash brought Blaney back onto the lead lap – only to snap the left-rear toe link in the final laps, sending him limping back down pit road in the race’s final moments. Already on pit rod with him was Kyle Larson, who led 3 laps earlier during a brief battle with Van Gisbergen, but suffered significant rear bumper damage to his #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet. Larson’s crew managed to send him back out quick enough to complete the final lap under power, though at a great distance back of the field. He finished two laps down on the same lap as 34th-place Ware. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. completed the Bottom Five after his #47 Real American Beer Chevrolet slid into the tire barriers at the Esses, drawing what became the sixth and final caution of the afternoon. Larson and Blaney’s incident didn’t draw the yellow.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #4 in a Cup Series race at Sonoma since June 24, 2001, when Kevin Lepage’s #4 Kodak Chevrolet lost the engine after 2 laps.
*Gragson’s four Cup Series last-place finishes have each come with a different car number and team. The previous three were with Kaulig Racing’s #16, Legacy Motor Club’s #42, and Stewart-Haas Racing’s #10. This also happens to be Front Row Motorsports’ first Cup Series last-place finish of 2025.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
37) #4-Noah Gragson / 99 laps / crash
36) #12-Ryan Blaney / 106 laps / crash
35) #5-Kyle Larson / 108 laps / running / led 3 laps
34) #51-Cody Ware / 108 laps / running
33) #47-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. / 110 laps / running
2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) 23XI Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Kaulig Racing, Legacy Motor Club, Penske Racing (2)
2nd) Front Row Motorsports, Garage 66, Hyak Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, NY Racing Team, RFK Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Rick Ware Racing, Spire Motorsports, Trackhouse Racing (1)
2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (9)
2nd) Ford (6)
3rd) Toyota (5)
2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
