NASCAR Season Continues at Dover Speedway and Darlington Raceway
The wheels just keep on turning for BRCC Motor Sports, with the NASCAR season is in full swing. Dover Motor Speedway’s DuraMax Drydene 400 and Darlington Raceway’s Goodyear 400 race weekends saw both Noah Gragson and Ty Dillon as consistent drivers, adding points to both driver’s totals for the season.
Gragson’s fourth-place finish at Dover marked a solid end to a challenging day for the 23-year-old and earned him his $100,000 bonus check in the Dash 4 Cash program. (Gragson plans to share the winnings with his team and pit crew members.) At the end of the Dover weekend, Gragson was in third place for the season, with 384 points and 13 playoff points.
Photo by Torey Fox /NASCAR Digital Media.
Dover also marked a milestone for the whole JR Motorsports team. They claimed four of the race’s top five positions — the first time any team has done so since 2013.
“What a day for the entire company, four cars in the top-five, and congratulations to Josh Berry for his win,” said Gragson, who added with a smile, holding up the giant $100,000 cardboard Dash 4 Cash winner’s check, “My car was as fast as the Xfinity internet.”
This week at Darlington brought a steady second place for Gragson. Though he won both stages, Gragson’s overall time just didn’t quite beat out Justin Allgaier. Wrapping up Darlington, Gragson held onto second place overall, with 429 points and 15 playoff points.
“I’m really proud of the effort of everyone on this Bass Pro Shop team,” Gragson said. “We were fast during practice but didn’t really have the feel that I wanted, but we just kept persevering — we just came up a bit short. According to my crew chief, if this is an average day, this is a good day. Just so thankful for Johnny Morris, Rusty Sellers, the guys over at Black Rifle Coffee, True Timber, Bass Pro Shops — everyone who helps get this care to the racetrack.”
Noah Gragson is currently in his fourth full-time season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in the No. 9 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports.
Dillon’s Dover weekend kicked off in the 31st position, and he wrapped up with 180 points for the season and 26th position. All in all, not terrible after failing the pre-qualifying inspection twice, which resulted in the loss of pit selection and a crew-member ejection (car chief Cam Strader did not participate in the Drydene 400).
“[This was a] tough weekend for our ChevyLiners.com Camaro,” Dillon said. “From the moment we hit the track during practice to the checkered flag, we struggled to find the right balance in our car. Unfortunately, we couldn’t keep the track position, and once I blew a right front [tire] under the green, we couldn’t make up those laps once again. Our Petty GMS team will keep digging and fight to make our cars better.”
The Darlington event, also the official throwback weekend of NASCAR, saw Dillon and his No. 42 pay tribute to Lee Petty with a classic red and white paint scheme. After starting in 21st position, Dillon wrapped up the race in 12th place. This placement earned him 25 points, bringing his total race points to 205 and seating him in 25th for the season.
“Really solid weekend for our Petty GMS Chevrolet. Starting with practice yesterday and throughout the race today, our group worked together and made progress,” Dillon said. “We kept plugging away at it consistently and got the handling in a good spot where we just needed to make little adjustments. Even when we had a couple things not go our way during the race, we kept our heads down to push through and finish 12th. I’m very proud of our team for rebounding after Dover.
He continued, “[t]his was a complete weekend from start to finish that we can build momentum off of. It was an honor to drive this Lee Petty throwback scheme from the 1959 Daytona 500. He was a pioneer of our sport and to carry his number and colors is a special moment that I’m grateful for.”
Photo courtesy of Petty GMS Motorsports.
Dillon heads to Kansas Speedway for the next NASCAR Cup Series race, the AdventHealth 400 on Sunday, May 15, while Gragson’s next race in the Xfinity Cup Series will be on May 21 at the Texas Motor Speedway, where Dillon will join him for the All-Star Race weekend.
