Following a commendable P6 finish at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Noah Gragson, driver of the #10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse, rolls into Phoenix with momentum clearly on his side. While the driver finished out of his three starts in the Cup Series and racked up two top-10 finishes, he is more cautious than confident, looking to finish better than where he started.

Speaking on Speed Talk, Gragson spoke his mind about going to the mile-long, intricate Phoenix Raceway and how his #10 Ford will fair at the track, comparing his last race in Las Vegas.

Noah Gragson reveals what’s in the tank for SHR as he heads to Phoenix

After a not-so-great season with Legacy Motor Club, which indefinitely suspended the driver and cut all ties with him soon after his social media activity went viral, Noah Gragson is slowly yet steadily getting back up to speed. His transition to the Ford camp has been seamless, snagging two top-10 finishes already and finishing races on top of seasoned veterans of the sport.

Even an untimely penalty couldn’t halt his advance as the #10 driver overcame adversity to finish a brilliant P6 at Las Vegas. Nor did he succumb to the unfortunate ending at Atlanta, dwelling in the past. But instead, the driver looked at the bright side of things and came back stronger than ever with a career-high finish at Vegas.

Rolling into Phoenix, Gragson laid out things just the way they are, saying, “Yeah, I think we had good speed, but I also want to see where we’re at Phoenix, and I won’t really know so. It does feel good; there is a little extra confidence in the tank, leading into Phoenix, but at the same time, I mean, you’re only as good as your last run.”

“So once we get on track at Phoenix, the Vegas Run doesn’t really matter. We can talk about it all week, but once the tires hit the race track, it’s a new opportunity,” said Noah Gragson.

While Gragson says it’s still very early in the season to drop any prediction, he said, “We want to finish better than we start, and we want to improve all day. If we can do that, no matter if it’s, you know, a sixth-place finish or if we ran 18th all day and we finish 14th, that is still good in my mind because we made improvements and we finished better than we ran all day.” 

Gragson doesn’t feel any pressure from the weight of SHR’s turnaround

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The 26-year-old’s ability to bounce back from difficult situations, such as the early wreck in Atlanta and starting off his Vegas run with a points deficit, has been a significant part of his early success with Ford. The team’s recovery and subsequent performance in Vegas have set a positive tone for the upcoming races, showcasing their resilience and strong teamwork.

During his media availability before the Phoenix adventure, he was asked what he felt about people saying that the sole responsibility for SHR’s comeback relies on him. To which he simply said, “No. I don’t really feel any pressure. I think it’s because I feel like I have a lot of trust in the organization as a whole, and I feel like they have a lot of trust in me.” 

Furthermore, he added, “I know it’s still early, but I’m just making relationships, and developing those in the shop over the past two or three months has been good. To be able to have that support in the shop takes the pressure off myself. They’ve been saying on matter what the department is they’re like, ‘Hey, we’ll rebuild the race cars. We just want you to be out there hauling ass and going to the front.’ So, that gives me confidence that I have the trust and the support from every department inside the shop, and that’s big as a driver to have—not only the trust and support, but the respect of every individual at the race team and vice versa.” 

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What are your predictions about Noah Gragson’s performance at Phoenix? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.