Noah Gragson was ‘about to throw a punch’ before – Sports News
Noah Gragson nearly fought a fellow NASCAR driver after crashing out of Sunday’s race (Image: Getty)
Front Row Motorsports driver Noah Gragson admitted he nearly fought Kevin Magnussen after the 2 have been concerned in a mud up during the Anduril 250.
NASCAR common Gragson took purpose at Magnussen, a former Formula 1 driver making his debut within the Cup Series, after the pair was concerned in a multi-lap feud during Sunday’s race at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego.
Gragson accused Magnussen of being too aggressive from the beginning of the 75-lap race, however the first incident between the 2 got here during Lap 25 when Magnussen hit the brakes too late and made contact with the back of Gragson’s No. 4 Ford.
The two then banged doorways on the straight and remained at odds for the following 12 laps, with Gragson continuously blockading Magnussen, who at one level radioed his staff, “I’m stuck behind this guy, I don’t know who he is.”
On Lap 38, Magnussen again made contact with the precise rear of Gragson and despatched him into the wall exiting Turn 4, inflicting enough harm to finish his race. Gragson later confronted Magnussen on pit street, the place the 2 exchanged expletives in one another’s faces before letting cooler heads prevail.
Magnussen brought on points in his first ever Cup Series race (Image: Getty)
Speaking to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Wednesday, Gragson confirmed the spat nearly bought bodily before he was reminded of “long term” penalties of beginning a struggle.
“What I’m most mad about is that you’re in our ballfield and our ballpark, we’re out here and we race a 38-race season, to come in here on Lap 3 and be jamming it up the inside and running into guys and driving into their doors, not just myself, but other guys. It’s frustrating,” Gragson stated.
Magnussen, a longtime F1 driver with McLaren, Renault, and Haas, joined Trackhouse Racing on a part-time foundation earlier this month before making his Cup Series debut at Coronado on Sunday.
Gragson stated he took difficulty with the Danish worldwide’s aggressive type and believes he initiated an excessive amount of contact after a lot of his racing profession got here in F1, the place banging into different drivers’ automobiles during a race will not be permitted.
“We do have a bit of contact, but they feel like it’s 10 times more than that, that’s what pisses me off,” Gragson stated. “Hit me super hard going into turn 12, and then after I watched him do it to three other guys, it made me mad.”
“I really, really, really wanted to go fight, I was about to throw a punch, and I got told right before I got over there that there’s going to be long term consequences with my job if that was the case. And so, I had to really restrain.”
If Gragson and Magnussen had fought, they possible would have each been hit with extreme financial penalties and a potential probation or suspension. In 2024, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was fined $75,000 for sparking a brawl during the All-Star race that noticed two of his crew members suspended.
“It’s a no-win situation, we’re not going to deal with that guy probably ever again,” Gragson stated.
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