No, this was not caused by the punch he took from Ross Chastain.
NASCAR Cup Series rookie Noah Gragson announced this afternoon that he will miss Sunday’s race at Sonoma Raceway after suffering from concussion-like symptoms from a hard hit during last weekend’s race at Gateway.
Gragson, driver of the #42 Chevrolet for Legacy Motor Club (formerly Richard Petty Motorsports), is in his first full year of Cup Series competition. But last weekend during the race at World Wide Technology Raceway, Gragson blew a brake rotor and took a hard hit into the outside wall with the drivers side door.
A piece of the brake rotor even flew into the stands and hit a fan in the chest.
Gragson will be replaced by NASCAR Truck Series driver Grant Enfinger for this weekend’s road course race at Sonoma Raceway. Enfinger will be making his first career Cup Series start.
A statement from Legacy Motor Club co-owners Maury Gallagher and seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson said that Gragson made the decision to sit out this weekend for himself:
“Noah’s health is the highest of priorities and we commend him for making the decision to sit out this weekend. We are appreciative that Grant was available and willing to step in since the Truck Series is off this weekend.”
Gragson is currently second in the Rookie of the Year standings, 155 points behind Ty Gibbs, and 32nd in the points standings after 15 races this season. His best finish this season came at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where he finished just outside the top 10 in 12th position.
Here’s to hoping Gragson gets better soon and is back out on the track at Nashville in 3 weeks – and that NASCAR gets something figured out with these cars to better protect drivers when they take these hard hits.
