NASCAR driver Noah Gragson to miss Sonoma race due to concussion after big wreck
Another NASCAR Cup Series driver will miss a race this season due to an injury.
This time it’s Noah Gragson, the rookie driver of the 42 car for Legacy Motor Club who suffered a big single-car wreck at Gateway this past weekend. According to a release from his team, Gragson began to experience concussion-like symptoms once he returned to his home in North Carolina, and is currently seeking treatment.
GMS Racing and NASCAR Truck Series veteran Grant Enfinger will drive in his stead at Sonoma Raceway in the Cup race on Sunday.
“Noah’s health is the highest of priorities and we commend him for making the decision to sit out this weekend,” said team co-owners Maury Gallagher and Jimmie Johnson in a joint statement. “We are appreciative that Grant was available and willing to step in since the Truck Series is off this weekend.”
Gragson is the latest driver to have to miss time in the car due to an injury this year. Chase Elliott had to miss several weeks after a snowboarding accident in February led to a fractured bone in his left leg, and Alex Bowman had to miss five race weekends after breaking his back in April.
The 24-year-old driver also isn’t the first driver to have sustained a brain injury in the Next Gen car. Kurt Busch did so last summer — an injury that ultimately expedited his retirement — and Bowman did so in fall 2022. Those drivers’ injuries led to a bunch of calls for driver safety and ultimately led to safety changes to the Next Gen car ahead of the 2023 season. (Gragson, in fact, got a bunch of Cup experience last year while he was running full-time in the Xfinity Series because of injuries.)
The hit Gragson took on Sunday was undeniably gnarly. It was the result of a snapped brake rotor, which sent the car spinning and saw the car’s rear bumper make contact with the fence.
He exited the infield care center and described the contact with the wall as “a hard-ass hit.” He later said that it had been a rough year for his team but that he was looking forward to racing at Sonoma — one of his favorite racetracks that isn’t far from his Las Vegas, Nevada, hometown.
Sunday’s Cup race is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on FOX.
This story was originally published June 8, 2023 at 3:37 PM.
