Noah Gragson captures first Xfinity Series win at Daytona

Noah Gragson was in the right place at the right time and grabbed his first Xfinity Series win in the season-opening NASCAR Racing Experience 300 at Daytona International Speedway in the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevy. He took the lead from Chase Briscoe on the final restart of the race and was scored as the winner when a caution came out on the last lap.

The final restart came on Lap 118 of the 120-lap race as Gragson moved to the lead. A multi-car wreck in Turn 3 brought out the final race caution on Lap 120 and he was declared the winner, besting second-place Harrison Burton by 0.631 seconds.

It was the 21-year-old’s first victory in the series in 37 starts but it was the seventh win at Daytona for car owner, JR Motorsports, who has now won three of the season-openers in a row.

He thanked everyone who has helped him along the way, particularly team owner, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“Man, I’m speechless right now,” Gragson said. “I didn’t think this would come. But there’s so many people who made this possible for me, Dustin Ash back at home, the O’Hanley family, Jefferson Pitts Racing, Kyle Busch Motorsports, everybody who’s helped me get to this point. 

“I spent a lot of time with Dale Jr. this week, talked to him for about two hours, and wanted to be a better speedway racer. He told me, go have fun; wreckers or checkers; you’ve got to manage your gaps, be there at the end, and just go lead the damn thing. That’s what we did.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Harrison Burton finished second in his debut race for the team.

Although he conceded it was a great finish, he had hoped for more and credited his fallen friend, John Andretti, whose presence he felt during the race.

“Not as great as it could have been, which is unfortunate,” Burton said. “There was a couple times where we almost got wrecked, and we kind of barely squeaked out of it, so I know I had John Andretti kind of over my shoulder watching me for that. That was really cool. There was a couple times this weekend in general where I blew a tire in practice and somehow didn’t wreck. Had a lot of help there from him.”

Timmy Hill, who qualified for the upcoming Daytona 500 in the Bluegreen Vacations Duel 2, finished third, saying, “I just feel like this year is kicking off on a great note. Making the Daytona 500 on Thursday was awesome. I didn’t think it could get any better. Third place was a nice finish. I thought we could’ve had a shot at the win.”

Brandon Jones and Chase Briscoe rounded out the top five as Justin Haley, Brandon Brown, Ray Black Jr., Ryan Sieg and Alex Labbe completed the top 10 finishers.

Unofficial Race Results
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 1
Race Results for the 39th Annual NASCAR Racing Experience 300 – Saturday, February 15, 2020
Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, FL – 2.5 – Mile Paved

FinStrNoDriverLapsS1PosS2PosS3PosPtsStatus
1129Noah Gragson12049049Running
2820Harrison Burton #12080038Running
32666Timmy Hill1200000Running
4619Brandon Jones12008036Running
51098Chase Briscoe1201010034Running
6311Justin Haley12052046Running
71168Brandon Brown12006035Running
8167Ray Black II12000029Running
9939Ryan Sieg12004035Running
101936Alex Labbe12090029Running
1121Michael Annett11920035Accident
123452JJ Yeley11900025Running
13220BJ McLeod11900024Running
142578Vinnie Miller11900023Running
153647Joe Nemechek(i)1190000Running
163574Mike Harmon11900021Running
172015Robby Lyons II11900020Running
18316David Starr11900019Running
19184Jesse Little #11800018Accident
203313Chad Finchum11800017Running
213299Josh Bilicki11700016Running
222338Ross Chastain11507019Running
2348Jeb Burton11413032Accident
24242Brett Moffitt(i)1140000Accident
251522Austin Cindric11365023Accident
261792Josh Williams11300011Accident
272193CJ McLaughlin11300010Running
282951Jeremy Clements1130009Running
291490Caesar Bacarella1120008Accident
30137Justin Allgaier10731025Accident
31305Matt Mills1010006Electrical
32718Riley Herbst #590005Accident
33121Myatt Snider597008Accident
342725Chris Cockrum590003Accident
352861Austin Hill(i)370000Accident
3658Joe Graf Jr #370001Accident

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SpeedwayMedia.com

Angela Campbell
Angela Campbell
A native of Charlotte, NC, Angela (Angie) was first introduced to racing by her father. An avid fan of NASCAR, she found a way to combine her love of racing with her passion for writing. Angie is also an award-winning member of the National Motorsports Press Association. Follow her on Twitter @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

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