{"id":531233,"date":"2026-03-12T10:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T10:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/531233\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T10:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T10:52:09","slug":"noah-gragson-on-opening-up-about-his-private-life-and-more-12-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/531233\/","title":{"rendered":"Noah Gragson on opening up about his private life and more: 12 Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Each week, The Athletic asks the same 12 questions to a different race car driver. Up next: Las Vegas native Noah Gragson, who returns to his home track this weekend sitting 25th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings. This interview has been edited and condensed, but the full version is available on the 12 Questions Podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n

1. Do you typically arrive for things early, late or on time, and why?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m usually rolling in right on time. If I have an ETA and it says I\u2019m gonna get there at 3:02 for a 3 o\u2019clock meeting or something, that\u2019s how my life is. And I\u2019ll make up the two minutes somehow and walk in right on time.<\/p>\n

2. What is the pettiest thing that annoys you during a race weekend?<\/p>\n

I mean this with absolutely no disrespect, but it mind-boggles me when you\u2019ll be standing there taking pictures with a bunch of people, and they\u2019re not ready to take a picture. Then they get their phone out when you get to them, and they\u2019re like, \u201cCan we take a picture?\u201d And you\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I\u2019ve been taking pictures with everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

I mean this with gratitude: It\u2019s great they want a picture, but it just drives me nuts (they\u2019re not ready).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s like the people at TSA when you get up there, and you don\u2019t have your ID out. Every single person had their ID out. What were you doing the whole time?<\/p>\n

The whole time. It just drives me absolutely nuts. I\u2019m nice about it. There\u2019d be some guys in the garage who would probably just walk away in some situations.<\/p>\n

One guy yelled at me yesterday. I was there at this campsite for like five minutes. I had plenty of time to take a picture and I was leaving and (the man\u2019s wife) was like, \u201cCan I take a selfie with you?\u201d Then the guy pulls his camera out and he\u2019s taking a picture. I was walking back and I got like this (demonstrates how he leaned into the photo and smiled), and he was like, \u201cJesus, can\u2019t you act like you know each other? You\u2019re trying to promote sponsors out here. You\u2019re being an a\u2014hole about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m like, \u201cWell, I don\u2019t know her and I was leaving, and then you called me back, and I came back to take a picture.\u201d I\u2019m ranting right now, but that guy really made me mad.<\/p>\n

3. What is something you\u2019ve learned to stop explaining to people?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve learned to stop explaining myself, and I just be myself. If they want me for me, they can have me for me. If they don\u2019t like me for me, then that\u2019s their problem.<\/p>\n

4. If you could go back to the early days before you reached NASCAR, what is one different decision you wish you had made in your career?<\/p>\n

I probably wouldn\u2019t make any decisions differently. If I made mistakes, I tried to learn from those mistakes and just become a better person from it. Going through challenges makes you better, and they grow you as a person. So I don\u2019t necessarily know if I would regret or change anything before NASCAR.<\/p>\n

5. What is it like to be in a debrief after a bad race?<\/p>\n

Eh, it\u2019s not too bad. It goes back to the explaining yourself question. You can\u2019t change it. You got what you got. You might as well try and find the positives and make the most of it and learn as much as you can in the debrief.<\/p>\n

Some people will probably be pouting in those debriefs. (Imitates a driver whining.) \u201cOh, my car is \u2014\u201d No! We didn\u2019t get it done. We sucked. We got another opportunity this next weekend coming up. It is what it is.<\/p>\n

\"Noah<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI mean this with absolutely no disrespect,\u201d Noah Gragson says, \u201cbut it mind-boggles me when (you\u2019re) taking pictures with a bunch of people, and they\u2019re not ready to take a picture.\u201d (Sean Gardner \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

6. I\u2019m asking two wild-card questions, one about the past and one about the present. In the past, you used to put yourself out there a lot on social media, then dialed it back, and now it feels like you\u2019re putting yourself out there a little more again. Where are you now with it, and how useful is it to you?<\/p>\n

You could post a picture of me hunting, and 99 people comment on it and they\u2019re happy about it, and one person claps at me. Then they get mad and they send emails and stuff because I\u2019m hunting, and it gets back to the shop and the team. It takes one person to ruin it for everyone.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen that a little bit in my career. I\u2019ve found a lot of happiness in my life when I stopped worrying about others and just worried about myself. When you solely give a s\u2014 about yourself and what you can control, things get a lot better.<\/p>\n

On the social media side, they\u2019ve really put a muzzle on me. I know there\u2019s been controversy (Gragson was suspended in 2023<\/a> for liking an insensitive George Floyd meme on Instagram), but I don\u2019t show people my behind-the-scenes life anymore. They\u2019ve lost that privilege. Now I let other people control my social media for the most part. I don\u2019t even touch it for the most part, because it takes one to ruin it for everyone.<\/p>\n

Now I say that, and I\u2019ve made mistakes on social media too. I\u2019m not just pointing the finger at other people. But there\u2019s always going to be somebody that\u2019s mad at you for something. You see it with NASCAR rules, you see it with everything in the world: There are going to be people who like it and people who don\u2019t like it, but the people who don\u2019t like it are the ones who create a problem.<\/p>\n

7. In terms of the present, on the latest season of \u201cFull Speed,\u201d you really opened yourself up emotionally and talked about your dad (who is imprisoned as the result of a fatal DUI accident in 2019) in a way we haven\u2019t seen before. Why did you decide to do that now?<\/p>\n

The time has passed where I\u2019ve become more comfortable with the situation and stuff. I just never really talked about it publicly because I wasn\u2019t really comfortable with it. Now I\u2019ve kind of taken the approach of, \u201cThat\u2019s a part of my journey. That\u2019s a chapter in my life that makes me who I am.\u201d So it\u2019s kind of owning, \u201cHey, this is the situation that I\u2019m in, and this is part of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

I try not to hide anything. I try to be an open book. But I felt like \u201cFull Speed\u201d was the biggest platform I\u2019ve been on to really give people a behind-the-scenes look at who I am as a person and the driver I am, and the son and brother and friend I am to people. It just seemed like it was the appropriate time for me to tell that story.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve had the opportunity to go on the \u201cDale Jr. Download\u201d and talk to Dale, but I\u2019ve always told him no just because I felt like that was going to be brought up, and I don\u2019t know if I was ready for that question.<\/p>\n

We sat down and did a Zoom call with the Amazon Prime people, and I was like, \u201cHey, I\u2019m willing to tell you guys anything.\u201d I told them the story about my dad and I said, \u201cYou guys can put that in there if you need to.\u201d<\/p>\n

8. If you could get any driver\u2019s helmet in the history of motorsports, who would it be?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve got a (Travis) Pastrana helmet from his NASCAR days, which is sick, because he was always my hero and kind of got me into racing.<\/p>\n

Kyle Larson had a 25th anniversary Target helmet that he ran \u2014 I think it was 2015. It was a silver car, and his helmet was chrome and red with Target. I always loved that helmet a lot, so I would probably want that helmet.<\/p>\n

Or I\u2019d want this all-bronze Sebastian Vettel JMD (Jens Munser Designs) Arai helmet that he ran years ago. I don\u2019t necessarily know the year, maybe 2014 or so, but it was an all-bronze painted ripple helmet that looked really, really cool.<\/p>\n

9. When things aren\u2019t going well, do you prefer that people leave you alone or check in on you?<\/p>\n

I find it very difficult when people check in on someone. I find it really difficult to check in on someone as well, just because when my dad\u2019s situation happened, everybody texted me, \u201cHey, I\u2019m thinking of you.\u201d And I appreciate that, but it\u2019s a very challenging time for anybody to know what the proper thing to say is.<\/p>\n

There were people who were just reaching out to reach out, and then there were people who were genuinely trying to be helpful. That made me think, \u201cMan, when something happens, I know what it\u2019s like to be on the other side of things.\u201d When everyone\u2019s just bombarding you \u2014 \u201cHey, what happened? Are you OK?\u201d \u2014 it\u2019s tough.<\/p>\n

I think of Tyler Reddick\u2019s son and their situation over the past 12 months (when Rookie Reddick was hospitalized with heart failure last year due to a tumor that was later removed). Instead of sending a text, I just waited until I saw Tyler and gave him a hug and said, \u201cMan, I love you.\u201d That\u2019s the only thing I can say.<\/p>\n

The people who are closest to you, I know they will do anything for me \u2014 and I hope the people that I\u2019m closest to, if I\u2019m on the other side of that, they know that I\u2019ll do anything for them. So I feel like you don\u2019t have to say that to people. \u201cHey, let me know if you need anything.\u201d That one pisses me off a little bit. If you gotta tell somebody that, you\u2019re probably not there for them (normally).<\/p>\n

10. What is something about yourself that would surprise people who think they know you?<\/p>\n

People probably think I\u2019m a lot more wild. I don\u2019t even drink. People think, \u201cOh, he just shotguns beers all the time and parties all the time.\u201d It\u2019s like, I really don\u2019t. I could see where after we won a race and I shotgunned beers and said, \u201cLet\u2019s go to the Boulevard,\u201d that\u2019s a self-portrayed image I put on myself as that more outgoing guy. But I don\u2019t even drink anymore.<\/p>\n

11. What is something you laugh about now that was absolutely not funny at the time?<\/p>\n

A general one is that Zane (Smith) always gives me a hard time for is I\u2019ll get done after practice and I\u2019ll be pissed sometimes, and he calls (Gragson\u2019s facial expression) the \u201cMad Dog.\u201d (Tries to imitate it.) I can\u2019t even do it, but just come over after practice and take a picture of me \u2014 I probably have the Mad Dog on if we didn\u2019t run good.<\/p>\n

12. Each week, I ask a driver to give me a question for the next person. Last week was Christopher Bell and he says: \u201cHow do we fix the speedway package?\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s wrong with it? Why do we gotta f\u2014ing fix everything? I don\u2019t get it. We got what we got. Let\u2019s just go do it.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t bother you? The fuel-saving type strategy?<\/p>\n

No! Save more fuel than the other guys and do a better job than them, and you\u2019ll find yourself up front at the end of these things after the last green-flag pit stop.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s mad because what? Because we\u2019re racing? I don\u2019t understand. I\u2019m not the best road course racer. He might not be the best superspeedway racer. But you still go and you try your best. I could say, \u201cOh, I need a bigger spoiler on the car for a road course because I suck at it. We need to f\u2014ing fix that.\u201d No. I just need to become a better road course racer. Become a better speedway racer. I dunno, save fuel better. Don\u2019t be a dumba\u2014 and run wide open the whole time. Strategy.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re all playing checkers. It\u2019s not that difficult. Just run less throttle than the rest of the guys around you, and you\u2019re gonna spend less time on pit road and you\u2019re gonna be up front by the end of the thing. Christopher Bell wins a superspeedway race and he\u2019s gonna be like, \u201cYo, this s\u2014 is awesome. Hell yeah!\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you have a question I can ask the next person?<\/p>\n

If you could race one car \u2014 one vehicle \u2014 at any track, where would it be? My answer for that question is Homestead in an (O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series) car. I love that track. But I\u2019d be curious to see what these other guys would say \u2014 F1 cars around Dover, that\u2019d be crazy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Each week, The Athletic asks the same 12 questions to a different race car driver. Up next: Las…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531234,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,12716,634,82],"class_list":["post-531233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-motorsports","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}