Noah Gragson: The Rookie Season From Hell 

Update: Noah Gragson requested and was granted his release from Legacy Motor Club.

My father and I watched the Chicago race, and saw Noah Gragson's abysmal relationship with Turn 6. After the race, we got Wendy's for dinner out of pity.

Weird that Noah would like something like that. I saw the Chicago street race, he kept trying to break down barriers

Gragson's rookie year goes up there with the following abysmal Cup rookie campaigns: Jack Sprague (2003) The 2014 rookie class NOT named Larson Most of the 2001 rookies

His chicago performance is something I will never forget

I've been a Noah Gragson fan since he was in trucks in 2018. This season has just been painful to watch. I know he'll be successful in the cup series if he ever gets a good chance but man this sucks.

The comments are going to be something that's what I'm here for 🍿

to any driver who steps into the 42 car in the future, i beg them to please be aware of your surroundings…

The case for Noah is as such Only a rookie Drove subpar equipment A young guy that has a lot to learn on and off the track A personality that NASCAR needs Shown he has talent in lower divisions This guy may not be a Kyle Larson, but in my opinion deserves a second chance like Kyle did.

It’s not completely his fault. That 42 has been garbage almost every race. It’s just a shame what happened to Noah that got him suspended. I hope he comes back to the Cup Series sooner than later.

Even Noah Gregsons sub had to wreck at Michigan 💀💀💀

I ordered the Chicago diecast for shits and giggles Friday night at work. Saturday was just comical at that point.

This rookie season was BRUTAL for Gragson. Chicago was when it was at it’s worst (other than his suspension) as he kept on wrecking every 10-15 laps. By the time he wrecked a 5th time, you were just hoping that he would just DNF so that the suffering would end.

The Super Mario World ending song really adds for the video mood.

Here's a suggestion I have for Bad Seasons/Sophomore Slump: Jenson Button 2001. After impressing many people in F1 with his debut season in 2000, scoring 6 points finishes in 17 races and finishing 8th in the standings, his sophomore year on loan from Williams at Benetton (the team nowadays known as Alpine) was a disaster and his lack of experience was painfully obvious in his sophomore year. In 17 races he scored 5 top 10's and just one points finish (a fortunate 5th place in Germany) all year and a dismal 17th in the 2001 standings. So what went wrong? Well, let's first look at why he was there in the first place. The reason he was on loan at Benetton was because Williams was under pressure from Chip Ganassi to decide whether to recall Juan Pablo Montoya (who had been exchanged by Williams for Alex Zanardi in 1999 and Montoya was in what had been Zanardi's seat at CGR in CART) or release him completely to CGR for good. Williams decided to hire Montoya for 2001 onwards. But as Button had been very impressive in his debut season, he was placed on loan at Benetton. Button initially got on well with the team boss at Benetton, Flavio Briatore, but as time went on, as Button struggled with the 2001 Benetton (a car he described, diplomatically, as a total dog), Briatore (and the team) didn't exactly try to make him feel welcome. If he had a bad weekend, he would be anxious not to make mistakes, which inevitably led to him struggling more and more over time in a viscous cycle. Couple this with an unconventional (110° V10), underpowered and unreliable engine and you have the recipe for an unmitigated disaster. Fortunately, other team owners didn't forget what he was capable of, and in 2002, after being unexpectedly fired by the team he joined in 2001 (that had been rebranded as Renault) to make way for some driver called Fernando Alonso (whatever happened to him), he quickly found himself in the team that would ultimately lead him to a championship win in 2009 (when he joined in 2003, they were called BAR, short for British American Racing, which became Honda in 2006, after Honda pulled out in 2008, it became Brawn GP in 2009 and the year after Button left to join McLaren, his by then former team became Mercedes)

Kyle Larson said the you-know-what-word on a live stream. Noah Gragson liked a spicy meme. They are not the same.

It's curious how 2 drivers of the 42 car get suspended for racial controversies, also Kenny Irwin Jr died in that freaking car number too. Casey Mears almost became a bust driving the 42, and let's not forget the Big Juan jet dryer incident. I can say with all confidence that the 42 is officialy cursed.

It’s also crazy to think that he would’ve won the Xfinity title last year without the playoffs.

Turn 6 should absolutely be the Baconator corner

This did not warrant a suspension, it was a meme. A meme about a career criminal. I'm not racist, I'm black. #Justice4Gragson

I never thought Noah was going to have this kind of season….it’s been hard watching it. I hope he gets back to the Xfinity series next year. He still has the talent

I feel like whenever it comes to anyone doing something against African Americans Darian immediately makes a video as soon as he can. Not complaining about it, just something interesting I noticed.

Noah's emotions are more on display than most drivers. However... he's been observed to be *very* negative on himself, & he puts too much pressure on himself it appears. On top of that he's been through a *lot;* more than most honestly & arguably way more than anyone should... And now this year with the concussion _(Already a bad sign in itself given what we know about them now),_ the wrecks, this new (& honestly stupid) thing, there's a lot of fear going around that it's only going to get worse for him; Not just his career, but his mindset. When I was on Twitter I voiced my concern multiple time in regards to Noah's mental state; even tagging Dale Jr. & his Jr. Motorsports team in some of them. But now with this, I've actually had a few people ask me if I fear that all these factors will result in Noah's story eventually... turning "dark"... like a certain former driver who also had a lot of pressure on him whose story ended tragically... & honestly I have had those concerns (Because pessimism), but I don't think it's time to hit any sort of panic button yet, but... I feel someone close to him should at least keep an eye on him.

If Wendy's does sponsor turn 6 at the Chicago Street Course next year, they better call the turn the Baconator Turn.

Noah Gragson’s highlights of the season consist of Constant wrecking Fights with other drivers Crashing into barriers at Chicago And an ugly bowl cut And now a indefinite suspension If I missed anything feel free to comment

I feel bad for Noah because he’s a really awesome guy and he was my favorites driver in Xfinity. I hope next year is better.

The look on his face on 3:44 "Freakin Noah! AGAIN?!"

I'll never forget the advice from my dad when I went to my first day at my first job - "Be nice to everyone there, even if they seem a bit rude or gruff. You don't have to lie or be a fake, but just don't walk in with an ego and a sense of entitlement. Because WHEN you find yourself in trouble, those are the people who have to ask themselves if they're going to save the new guy's ass or not." Noah is certainly a "fun" driver, but a season of fistfights and poor results are not the work of a first-year cup driver. He's certianly put in work in lower divisions so he's not a rushed driver or anything but when you spend the previous 6 months swinging at anyone who breathes too loudly AND you're not in the top 30 in points AND you're a known crasher.....What do you expect when you end up in a minor PR issue? I don't even think NASCAR fans and staff and drivers are that offended or mad. Like, yes it's in very poor taste and yes, they gotta give a punishment but if Noah had been driving mostly clean and even just been an anonymous midfielder, he'd probably get a slap on the wrist, make some apologies, do some PR training, and be done with it. But here we are instead - all of his talent and actual work done is getting flushed down the toilert after half a year of poor decisions capped off with, of all things, being on social media.

I remember what Kyle Petty said in a TV special. He said everyone deserves a second chance and later added that some have to wait a while for that second chance. Let's be honest LMC was already tired of Noah's s--t on bragging about couldn't wait until the end of the season or crashing into his boss. He was gone after the season, liking that meme expedite the process.

This entire season just feels like a fever dream at this point imo

6:56 I literally had computer experts from my local police come to my Middle School in 2013 and say the exact same thing. If you do anything illegal online and delete it they can easily recover it. Barney Hall, the late great MRN commentator, always told new announcers from the 1970s until his retirement in 2014 "I live by two rules if I have something to say... 1.) Does this need to be said? 2.) Does this need to be said by me? If the answer to either of those two questions is 'No', I don't say anything. It has kept me out of trouble all these years".

This team needs another rebrand, I think dropping the Petty name cursed this team.

I bet a member of Legacy Motorsports scanned through his social media history hoping to find something so they had an excuse to get rid of him.

Not all rookies have a great first year. But my goodness, Noah absolutely struggled this year. One example, Andy Houston, had a similar struggle although his release was due to the sponsorship leaving the PPI motorsports #96 car. In the end, Noah isn’t the only rookie to be released from a ride in the middle of the season, others went through that same rabbit hole. Will he bounce back from this? IDK. But I pray that he does 🙏🏻

Noah Gragson really thought he was fooling people with that Mark Davis type bowl cut

Hey Darian. I love your videos and have been watching for many years now (I think 3-4). Keep up the fantastic work and keep making the NASCAR community happy.

The most disgusting thing nascar fans ever did was try to compare this man to Tim Richmond.

Might as well put this on during the red flag

I feel like Larson wasn’t only given a second chance because he’s a generational talent, although it was a big part of it. But he also learned from his mistake and did a lot of charity work and other stuff in the background for the remainder of 2020 we didn’t even know about for months. I feel like if Noah does the same, he deserves another shot

Didn’t expect to be in this video, but thanks for seeing the point I was trying to make. Some people really didn’t like me saying they weren’t the same lol

Bro you know it’s been a bad year when even Ty fans feel bad for dude 😂😂

What pisses me off so much is that, not only did Gragson pull this stunt, but how the online community has taken this and dragged it every which way they can. A lot of people trashing on one individual on the ex-bird app (y'all know what I mean) because he posted the screenshot & commented on Noah's dumbassery (which btw, personally I had seen the screenshot pop up on the NASCAR subreddit first, doesn't mean that it was posted there before Twitter but just saying) is absolutely infuriating, not to mention the stereotyping & comments of "oh they're a cancel culture warrior" like shut the actual fuck up. Y'all acting like NASCAR Twitter is back in 2020 where shit was wild af with everyone stuck at home, y'all sending death threats/telling the person to off themselves because y'all don't understand the concept of accountability. NASCAR has zero tolerance for bullshit like the meme Gragson liked, and like Darian said, freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences. Jay Lopez on Twitter (who from his pinned & bio had worked at Alpha Prime last year) said that he was told years ago from an official, quote: “No matter what you do, NASCAR will likely find out. They have the resources and they know you better than you know you.” So even if this didn't pop up on social media, NASCAR would have found out one way or the other (remember how Mike Wallace got suspended just a couple years ago for something nobody but himself and NASCAR truly knew about?) And at the end of the day, Noah knew better. He fucking knew better and he still liked the post. Y'all can say "oh its just a meme, fuck off" and "he shouldn't have been suspended", or go on and on about "oh everyone's so damn soft what the fuck", but ACCOUNTABILITY and COMMON SENSE are the name of the game, and Noah fucked around and found out. Mind you, this is coming from someone who rooted hard for him in Xfinity the last couple years but has paid little to no attention to him in Cup, mostly cause of how his season has gone, but also cause I've been focused on other shit. If Gragson never gets another Cup ride and falls back to Xfinity or even Trucks and is a lifer in those series, then he only has himself to blame.

"I understand the severity of the situation" while mario accordion music plays quitely in the back. lmao

If I like this video will I be suspended

I blame the awful haircut for this

From what I can remember about drivers being suspended (sometimes via drug use or yeah, a bad social media post), some drivers decided to retreat a level to rebuild their career. I remember AJ Allmendinger falling back to the Xfinity level after realizing he wasn't getting a lot of wins, top 5s, or even top 10s on the Cup level, he was happy to have Kaulig Racing sign him in 2020 and with help from the team, he rebuilt his career with better quality wins and a bunch of top 5s and top 10s. When I look at the comeback kid in Kyle Larson in 2021, he looked like a (possible) NASCAR bust. But he proved those fans they're not always right. But as for Noah Gragson, we'll have to wait until he is banned from NASCAR in order for that to be considered a bust.

This has to be a worse rookie season than Brian Scott’s in the #44

He'll be back; I agree with you he deserves a second chance. He drove in bad equipment all season, and for a rookie that's a recipe for disaster. He's a personality that NASCAR needs.

It is a freaking meme lol

Let me watch the comments on this one... And the USWNT in ⚽ too... Hot damn, things are getting worse in the sports world... Yeesh!

The situation that Noah is in this season driving-wise is not entirely his fault. It's become pretty apparent that the overall performance of the team heavily declined from where it was at last season. That being said, however, Noah is partially to blame and the fact that this has happened on top of everything else... The writing is on the wall here and I think he's done with Legacy Motor Club after 2023. The question is: Where does Noah go? I think that a trip back down to Xfinity (perhaps taking the #8 for Junior Motorsports which will be vacant after 2023) will be most effective for him in the long-term.

That 42 car is cursed. Larson while driving the 42, gets suspended. Gragson while driving the 42, gets suspended

The use of the super nintendo world ending music is so utterly appropriate. Excellent work BFM 😂😅

well that was quick

Just imagine how much better the Chicago race would’ve been without watching him run into the tire barriers every 10 minutes.

What gets me is that its a high probability nobody would have cared if the meme he liked would've had a white guy on it instead. Because apparently you better make sure the person you're making fun of is the same color as you... Good ol segregation

I think there's more to it i mean they had to go fishing pretty deep to find thid from 3 years ago. Im gonna bet theres something they aren't telling us and their just using this as an excuse just my opinion

2:05 You can hear the punch. It's very satisfying.

I personally don't think he has ever been the same since his concussion. Noah looks defeated and really whipped and he hit the tire barriers about three times at the street course in his first race back. I just think all the crashes have knocked him for a loop. I don't really care for his mouth and whatever comes out of it, he kind of marches to the beat of his own drum. Some of his takes and attitude may ruffle some feathers and get him in trouble. But this is his rookie season and he a lot of room to improve when he gets in his next ride wherever it may be.

Gragson's on track struggles are likely both LMC being in a lame duck spot and the simple fact that Gragson has never been a quick learner. It took him awhile to get going in Trucks and Xfinity.

It's really sounding more of a question of talent at the Cup Series more than the social media post that will keep another team away

Bro liked a meme. You can’t end everything the guy has worked for.

I go with what Joey Diaz a comedian says "if it makes you laugh it's comedy"

Can we talk about Hemric's Juke at 0:33? 👌

My dad's a Gragson fan because he shotgunned a beer at Bristol. He's pretty disappointed in Gragson, and so am I.

Great choice of music lol. Great video BFM

Are they suspending the other 77k+ that like the meme?

Remember when everyone thought there was going to be this huge rookie battle between Noah and Ty Gibbs

He’s his own worst enemy. Gets a hint of success and doesn’t know what to do with it, and then just can’t do anything right after. Driving or keeping his mouth shut.

What Nascar did has a stupid move I get why LMC fired him but not Nascar. Nascar is too sensitive and I mean Hailey Deegan said a ableist slur and got sensitivity training Gragson likes a offense meme and gets suspended.

Danica Patrick is going to be the fist trans driver, coming back as Dan Patrick with BudLight as a sponsor. That's how stupid this NASCAR suspension is.

I think Toyota didn’t want Noah Gregson and I think they did some digging to find something they could use against him. All because he doesn’t fit the mold for a Toyota driver.

As Much as i Like Noah. After everything that happened in 2022 and The battle with Ty. Entering this season. I was Expecting him to have a Bit of a Bell 2020 type of season. A Nemecheck type of season. Or maybe a Briscoe 2021 Type of season and Finish Ahead of Ty Dillon i wasn't expecting him to Outclass Gibbs since The 54 is better equipment than the 42 but i wasn't Expecting to Be bad.. That Bad And Behind Ty Dillon the former driver of the 42 out of all people And as a Chase fan.. Reminder. I was Never ever ever ever ever ever ever Ever ok with what Chase did to Denny. Im not Ok with Right hooking someone. And Never will. I called Out Chase for it. Alongside the Excuses of Blaming it on Brad But it Baffles Me how. Chase got Suspended for the Whole Incident with Denny. Bubba got Suspended for the Whole Incident with Larson. But NASCAR gave Noah an absolute Slap on the wrist for Destroying half of the field at Road America Nearly Killing Sage karam and a Ton of cars which were all The majority Small funded teams not to Mention when the entire Chase and Denny stuff happened. Everyone was Comparing it to the Bubba and Larson deal but No one mentioned the Whole Noah and Sage Karam Incident which was 10000000000000000 Times way Worse. Well. Noah I guess is probably gonna Take the Allgaier route and Go back to Xfinity who knows

He should go back to Xfinity and become a full time driver like Allgiaer.

As a Chastain fan, 2:06 will never stop being glorious.

He struggled even in that #48 car last year when Bowman was out. Back to little league Noah.

I guess his haircut wasn't the only thing Dumb and Dumber related...

You know this is going to be a comedy video when you're hear staff roll theme from Super Mario world.

The fact you put Super Mario World music throughout the video…

Would like to point out that car was still running 30th yesterday.

"freedom of speech doesnt mean freedom of consequences" - bfm (ngl banger quote)

Unlike the other driver of the 42, he isn't making a comeback 💀

WhatIfRacing & KamikazeGames are happier than Ultimate23Dragon when Johnny Benson essentially replaced Paul Tracy in SRX

Good timing on posting this video after Michigan got delayed.

The switch to Toyota sealed his fate.. The 42 car and that team is not a car or a team for a rookie.. The kid can drive but he needs the team behind him Even Josh Berry wasn't having an easy go in that car today You really cant compare JGR and Legacy Honestly Noah did himself a favour

Daniel McFadin was the one that emailed Legacy and Chevy about the like. Is Daniel McFadin overstaying his work visa

Erik Jones in basically the same equipment is.. 28th in the points. Gragson is 33rd. Erik Jones has won cup races before, and has proven that he can compete for wins at the cup level. But not even Jones can get LMC to seem competitive, so the blame for his poor runnings is as much if not more of LMC’s fault as Gragson’s That meme though.. Yikes.

JHN should steer clear of that 42

Gragson and turn 6 were in love and couldn’t get enough of each other in Chicago.

Let’s be honest here. He really wasn’t that good. He won four straight races but all of those came from Mickey circumstances. A cup driver dumping the leader at Darlington, rain at Kansas, wrecking his competition at Bristol, and all of his competition wrecking out at Texas. And not to mention he raced against mediocre competition throughout his Xfinity career and considering how the 2020 class is looking right now that’s saying a lot. He had a ton of embarrassing chokes throughout his career, including dumping guys for the lead or wrecking back markers for no reason. I expected his performance in cup to be worse than no talent Ty Dillon but I never expected the ultimate implosion that was his career. I’m just one year, all of a sudden, he might be relegated to Xfinity after one year. It’s not like he was rushed up, he had 4 seasons in Xfinity but in all his cup starts in 2022 he was very unimpressive. Even with the 48 he was slow and nowhere near relevant. With a combination of bad driving and terrible equipment, you get the worst rookie season in cup history. Every week he runs 30th alongside Harrison (who’s also a bust) and when he tries to overdrive the car he crashes. And that Chicago performance was absolutely pathetic. But I do not agree with the suspension. Last year he purposely wrecked half the field at Road America but only got a 10 point penalty which did fuckall. But suspending him over a liked post from 3 years ago is a TERRIBLE move all because some pos on Twitter got Butthurt over a meme and cancelled him. If I remember correctly that guy who canceled Gragson was the same guy who tried to cancel McDowell over a tweet from 2009. In all honesty, Gragson may not recover from this, LMC may not recover either.

I'm just now getting back into nascar but the first time I remember hearing his name was watching the Chicago race, then not too long after finding the clip of him getting rocked by chastain

Truthfully, that 42 car was a joke. It had been garbage the season prior, and I don't know if it will get better. At least not right now. Things changed once they became LMC, and hopefully they can get that ironed out. There's no reason that a car that won a race the year prior is also struggling for top fives, and top 10s. It's a terrible situation, and I believe that Noah can work his way back. He should look at it as a blessing in disguise though. If that team doesn't get better. That was just going to tank his career. He was pretty much already out of that ride anyways.

hey Black flags matter, just want to say I really appreciate you putting out good consistent content in the NASCAR sphere of things. - The guy formerly known as 10 to go

I agree with the fact that it's technically not his fault because LMC is in the bottom of the totem pole equipment. But with the unfortunate recent news of his suspension is so disappointing given the fact that I liked Gragson since he was driving Trucks for KBM......

I feel like Noah Gragson is probably jsut in a depression as this point. His team has been falling, with Erik Jones basically being the man who is holding it up. I wish to see Noah Gragson like move down to the Xfinity series again since I would say even tho Brandon Jones is not doing bad, but he is not like how Gragson was. However, I think Gragson would probably go to like RCR (Imma get so much hate for thinking this.)

Everyone crying and freaking out about his liking of a meme have just kept it alive forever

under da knee was funny I liked it to

I give this video a 42 out of 42 or 9 vomit filled helmets out of 9. Delivering the goods as always!

I think Noah won’t be back in the 42. Rumors are Toyota understandably wants JHN in the Cup Series ASAP, and I think everyone, especially now, can piece together that Nemechek is getting the 42 next year. Yes people have made jokes about him going to Hendrick, but I honestly think that if Noah leaves LMC, he takes over Justin Haley’s ride in the 31 for Kaulig. That is, if he still has a good relationship with Chevrolet.

Imagine using your public profile to like memes. That’s what the burner account is for my guy.