2015 ARCA Champion, Called Upon to Aid Jimmie Johnson, Sympathizes With Noah Gragson’s Pain Following Unfortunate Gateway Disaster

Driving at mind-boggling speed often comes with its own set of cons in the world of motorsports, varying from making contact with each other and spinning on the tracks to suffering from concussions and breaking bones. The world of NASCAR is replete with such instances. The last time Kurt Busch suffered concussion-like symptoms in 2022 at Pocono, where the driver failed to get a medical clearance. Since then, the driver has not made a comeback and has taken his seat behind the wheel.

While Kurt Busch is still recuperating from the concussion, another dark cloud looms over another rookie driver, Noah Gragson of Legacy Motor Club. Gragson suffered concussion-like symptoms, after the failure of brake rotor during the race at the Gateway. He is set to miss the race at Sonoma and is being substituted with Truck Series driver Grant Enfinger. But this surely is not a happy affair for the substitute driver, even if he gets his chance to compete in the highest format of NASCAR racing. He expresses his thoughts and sympathies about racing in the Cup Series on Sunday as a substitute for Gragson.

Noah Gragson Is Set to Miss Out on His First Race at Sonoma in the Rookie Season Due to Concussion-Like Symptoms

The Enjoy Illinois 300 at the World Wide Technology Raceway was nothing less than a debacle for a majority of teams, as the brake rotors failed and forced the drivers to retire from the race. But it was Legacy Motor Club’s Noah Gragson, who took the hardest hit after his brake rotor failed. His car rammed into the outside barriers, which eventually led to the red-flagging of the race.

Although after the initial medical inspection, the driver was discharged from the infield care, he developed the symptoms over the week, which required proper medical intervention, which further led him to be sidelined from Sunday’s race at Sonoma. 

To fill in the position, the 2015 ARCA Series champion from GMS Racing will be the substitute driver and will aid the 7x Cup Series champion and team owner Jimmie Johnson in Sonoma. But the ARCA champion does not take pride that he will be competing in the Cup Series at the cost of somebody else’s injury. 

He conveyed his sympathies to Noah Gragson on Sirius XM and expressed, “It’s a tough situation. It’s definitely going to be a battle and I am definitely looking for the challenge. This is tough on the whole team, it is really tough on Noah to sit back and all the guys that you grow so close with throughout the course of the year.”

Enfinger also added, “Those are the guys you do better with, so it’s kind of tough to have somebody different on the team. It is great that we all know each other and we are all kind of under one house, with Legacy Motor Club and GMS Racing. I do have a relationship with Luke and Philip and some other guys on his team. But man it’s tough to see somebody else on your driver’s seat.”

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A statement from the Legacy Motor Club disclosed the fact regarding Noah Gragson’s health affairs and also the fact that Grant Enfinger would replace the No. 42 Chevrolet driver. Even the co-owners of the team issued their individual statements. Maury Gallagher expressed, “Noah’s health is the highest of priorities and we commend him for making the decision to sit out this weekend.”

While Jimmie Johnson shared the fact, “We are appreciative that Grant was available and willing to step in since the Truck Series is off this weekend.”

With Sunday’s race, Grant Enfinger is set to make his Cup debut and has been a full-time Truck Series driver for over six seasons, and currently stands third in the points standings. He has also secured two wins this season, the last one being at the Gateway where the Cup Series team faltered badly. 

With such an impressive performance in the Truck Series, NASCAR enthusiasts are setting expectations high for the substitute driver. Will the former ARCA champion get his shot at making it big at the elite format and finalize his seat in the series for the future? Only the race at Sonoma on Sunday holds the answer to this question.

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