LAS VEGAS — Blackjack tournaments, golfing, Uber Eats, a wedding — and NASCAR racing, of course.

That’s a NASCAR race weekend in Las Vegas in a nutshell for hometown boy Noah Gragson, who will make his sixth NASCAR Cup Series start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Sunday’s South Point 400.

Photo by Dominic Aragon/TRE

The highlight of the weekend has been the off-track activities. While practice and qualifying were ho-hum, Gragson made it to a big event in his life while in town.

” I’m gonna miss the post-practice debrief to go to a wedding. It’s a lot when I come out here,” he said.

Gragson’s weekend started as the week began. It has been busy for a multitude of other reasons than a typical week but still has consisted of the usual routine.

“I came out on Monday and landed mid-afternoon. I caught up with some buddies and family and friends. It’s been kind of a different week for me out here,” Gragson said. “My grandpa had a brain bleed, so he went into the hospital. That kind of sucked, but just spend time with buddies and do competition meeting over the phone, prepare like I would normally, work out.”

Gragson has gone golfing with friends and, of course, received messages from friends wanting passes to get into the track.

It’s a nice break from a season that has been somewhere in between what his first two seasons have had to offer. While he hasn’t had the standout performances of the 2024 season, he has been cleaner than he was in 2023.

Although he has managed to get multiple top-10 finishes for the second season in a row, he hasn’t had any since the Coca-Cola 600 in May. He’s still looking for his first career win — but isn’t completely winless this season.

“I want to pat myself on the back because it was my first win in three years. I won last night, so that was pretty cool. I beat Chase Briscoe,” Gragson said.

While Briscoe is one of eight drivers running for the championship, Gragson is on the bottom end of the standings as a long, 28-week grind is coming to an end.

“It’s been a challenging year, just because we had some really good speed to start the year off for the first 12-15 races,” Gragson said. “I’d say in 2023, I wrecked a lot on my own and was probably driving over my head. The results have sucked but we’ve been collected in a lot of wrecks that are out of our own hands, which has been tough, but the speed was really good for the first half of the year and then we’ve kind of been hit or miss the second half. A little bit of that is when we go out to qualify and that just makes the weekend harder.”

Courtesy of True Speed PR

While Gragson doesn’t have the best performance to show for his season, there is a mutual love between him and the fans that keeps him going. Although he may not be on the level of Chase Elliott, who has dominated the Most Popular Driver award since his 2016 foray into Cup, he has never missed a NASCAR All-Star Race — thanks to the fan vote.

That is not a coincidence.

“I told myself when I was younger when I came out to my first race out here and thought, ‘Man, how can I stay in this sport one day if I ever get to that level?’ I want to be the guy who sells the most t-shirts. That’s what Dale Jr. did. Danica stayed in the sport for a long time and was one of the most popular, so I always told myself that if I could be the guy that could sell the most t-shirts and have the biggest fan base, you’re able to attract partners that way,” Gragson said.

Gragson is often seen signing autographs for extended periods of time, often no matter how things are going.

“I am a fan and I’ve always told myself that if I want to make it in this sport, I may not be the best driver, but hopefully I could be a fan favorite too and that could help point me in the right direction,” he said.

Las Vegas is not only home but it’s also the site of a comeback sixth-place finish in March 2024 for Gragson, who saw the previous season — and nearly his career — come crashing down.

Trials and tribulations like those have prepared him for a season where the performance may not fully be there — but the opportunity is.

“We haven’t lost faith. We have good confidence. I’m confident to go out here this weekend. This is one of my favorite tracks and… we’re just trying to take it week by week is what we’ve been doing,” Gragson said.

Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.

A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.

Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick’s final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen’s stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers’ stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.

Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com