Information By: MIKE ARNING / STEWART-HAAS RACING – KANNAPOLIS, NC
NOAH GRAGSON
Homestead Advance
No. 10 Beef-a-Roo Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Event Overview
● Event: Straight Talk Wireless 400 (Round 34 of 36)
● Time/Date: 2:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Oct. 27
● Location: Homestead-Miami Speedway
● Layout: 1.5-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 267 laps/400.5 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 80 laps / Stage 2: 85 laps / Final Stage: 102 laps
● TV/Radio: NBC / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Notes of Interest
● Noah Gragson will make his second NASCAR Cup Series start at Homestead-Miami Speedway when he takes the green flag for Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 400. His only Cup Series start on the 1.5-mile oval came in 2022 when he drove the No. 48 machine for Hendrick Motorsports as he subbed for injured driver Alex Bowman. Gragson started 24th and finished 25th, battling flu-like symptoms throughout the 267-lap race.
● While Gragson has limited NASCAR Cup Series experience at Homestead, he was a force at the South Florida track in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. In the stepping-stone division to the elite Cup Series, Gragson made five starts and finished among the top-five in all but one of them. He led laps in every race, and even with a 33rd-place finish in 2021 when he was collected in an accident involving David Starr, Gragson still managed an average finish of 9.2 with 335 total laps led. Gragson’s final Xfinity Series start at Homestead proved to be his best. After starting second in 2022, the Las Vegas native proceeded to lead six times for a race-high 127 laps to take the victory by .550 of a second over runner-up Ty Gibbs.
● Gragson also owns three NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts at Homestead. He debuted at the track in 2016 and finished 15th. An 18th-place finished followed in 2017, but then in 2018 Gragson found his rhythm. He qualified third and finished third, leading twice for 34 laps in between.
● Beef-a-Roo, known for its famously delicious burgers and fresh, quality ingredients, will serve as the primary partner for Gragson and the No. 10 team of Stewart-Haas racing in the Straight Talk Wireless 400. Beef-a-Roo is a beloved fast-casual restaurant brand that has garnered a loyal fanbase for its commitment to quality food and community engagement. Homestead is the last of three primary races for the No. 10 Beef-a-Roo Ford Mustang Dark Horse. Beef-a-Roo debuted with Gragson Oct. 6 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and returned to his car the following week for the Oct. 13 Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. This partnership, facilitated by agency AMG Sport, marks a key step in Beef-a-Roo’s strategy to align with dynamic personalities who resonate with racing fans and support local communities through motorsport. Coinciding with Beef-a-Roo’s partnership with Gragson is the opening of three new locations in October: Manhattan, Kansas; Pittsburgh, Kansas; and Joplin, Missouri. These soon-to-be-opened restaurants will join already established Beef-a-Roo locations in serving a special Noah Gragson-inspired burger throughout the month of October. Gragson’s “Nacho Burger” features a premium beef patty with lettuce, tomato, onion, tortilla chips, jalapenos and taco sauce, all drizzled with melted cheddar cheese. To learn more about Beef-a-Roo and its offerings, please visit www.beefaroo.com.
● Riding along with Gragson this weekend at Homestead as part of the 50th anniversary of the Ronald McDonald House Charities is the Harmon Family. In 2019 while in the midst of moving to California, their car was T-boned as they drove through Las Vegas. Joshua, their 9-year-old son, suffered shattered bones from his pelvis down. While Joshua recovered in a Las Vegas-area hospital, his parents stayed at the Ronald McDonald House for 71 nights. Today, Joshua is fully recovered and able to walk. The family chose to be represented on Gragson’s No. 10 Beef-a-Roo Ford Mustang Dark Horse as Gragson is a Las Vegas native.
Noah Gragson, Driver of the No. 10 Beef-a-Roo Ford Mustang Dark Horse
You have one NASCAR Cup Series start at Homestead, and it came back in 2022 when you were driving the No. 48 car for Hendrick Motorsports while subbing for an injured Alex Bowman. You finished 25th. What do you remember from that first Homestead start?
“We won the day before in the Xfinity race and really dominated, but just couldn’t run the wall in the Cup car like we needed to. So that was kind of a struggle, but I just remember being really, really sick inside the racecar and throwing up a handful of times, and that was definitely a long race. But it’s a fun, fun track, and I’m excited to get back there this year.”
Were you sick for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Saturday, or was it something that came after the Xfinity race?
“Saturday after the race, I remember going to victory lane, and I was so sick in victory lane. I was good before that, but then, I don’t know, I did a huge burnout and I was breathing in all the smoke and everything. And I don’t know if that made me sick, but I just felt terrible that whole night and the next day.”
Homestead was a great track for you in the NASCAR Xfinity Series – four top-fives in five starts, capped with a dominating win in your final Xfinity Series start there (2022 with 127 laps led). What was it like to rip around Homestead with so much confidence?
“It’s fun. We probably should’ve won at least four of the five races. My first race there, we finished fourth, and then we should’ve won every single race. I think I led the most laps out of the next four races in a row, and was leading within six to go in all four of them and only got one win. It’s definitely my favorite track. It’s kind of my bread and butter.”
Do you walk into Homestead with more confidence than you do at other racetracks?
“In in the Xfinity car, it was definitely like, ‘Man, I have so much confidence. It’s like there’s nobody who’s going to beat me here straight up if it goes green.’ On restarts, we kind of struggled on the short run in all those races, but over the course of 200 laps, the thing goes green the whole time, I felt like I could lap the field. And I mean that not out of arrogance, but we were just that good. I was so comfortable there that I felt like I could carry that confidence because I just felt almost like I was at home when I was right up against the wall, skimming the right-rear quarter panel against the wall. And if I got away from the wall, you know, 3, 6, 9 inches, the further away I got from the wall, the more I was going to wreck. So I had to be right up against the outside wall, and it also looks pretty cool too.”
Drivers seem to universally praise Homestead. Why do you like racing there, and what are you able to do with a car at Homestead that you can’t do elsewhere?
“I just think that’s the only track where you run the wall and it’s like a constant radius from when you turn into the corner to when you get your hands straight on the exit of the corner. It’s one constant radius. It doesn’t have a pocket and then sharpen up like some of these tracks, like the exit of (turn) four at Kansas and you’re running the wall, and then the wall sharpens up, and you kind of have to stay away from it. You can just rip the wall all the way from entry to center, and I think with it being worn out and having progressive banking, you can run bottom, middle, top – there are a lot of options. It’s worn out, so the tires are slipping and sliding at the end of a run, and you can throw slide jobs in turn one, make passes, and drive away. It’s pretty fun.”