NASCAR: Noah Gragson calls out ‘uneducated, ignorant’ people

Noah Gragson called out uneducated and ignorant people in regard to his NASCAR Xfinity Series crash on Saturday night, noting that he is kind of over it.

Noah Gragson’s stance on Saturday night’s incident late in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway hasn’t changed, despite the backlash with which he has been faced since his on-screen reaction to what happened.

The 22-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada native was understandably upset when he saw a win slip away at Homestead-Miami Speedway, marking the third consecutive race at the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval in Homestead, Florida he should have won.

All three of those races have taken place since he last took the checkered flag at Bristol Motor Speedway in early June of last year.

This time may have been the most heartbreaking, however.

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The driver of the #9 Chevrolet had the win in the bag, as he had opened up a massive lead over Our Motorsports’ Tyler Reddick. With just over two laps remaining, he was still riding the high line, but he was only doing so at 50% throttle to avoid putting himself in any sort of precarious situation.

Unfortunately, this was one of those situations where racing not to lose resulted in him not winning. The #13 MBM Motorsports Toyota, running just ahead of Gragson, had not yet been lapped by the leader, but Gragson was closing in. But that’s when the #13 Toyota, which was driven by David Starr, experienced a tire issue, resulting in the car shooting up the track and into the wall.

Gragson couldn’t react in time and slammed into the back of the #13 Toyota, ending his race and resulting in a third straight Homestead heartbreak.

As dramatic as this moment was, it was Gragson’s reaction on live television during his post-race interview that got most fans talking.

"“What are you gonna do – you’ve got dipshits in the way, every single week.”"

As expected, Gragson has been criticized heavily over the last several days following the incident, with many blaming him for taking himself out.

Many fans have said things such as that he had no reason to run the high line, that he could have avoided the #13 Toyota when it crashed, that the #13 Toyota had a flat tire, that he should have been backing off the throttle even more with the huge lead he had, etc. You get the idea.

Gragson noted that he does not feel any differently now than he did then and is “kind of over it at this point”. He even called out the “uneducated” and “ignorant” people who still attack him for what happened.

Here is what he had to say about the matter Tuesday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

"“I don’t feel any differently. I’m friends with drivers, car owners and people in that side of the garage, and I understand the battles that they’re going through. But I don’t feel any differently. …“I feel like in this form of motorsports, you should be able to feel a tire cording. You should be able to hear the cords unraveling with how bad that tire was. We corded a right front tire in the first stage. It’s really hard to get your point across with uneducated people or ignorant people, so I’m just kind of over it at this point.”"

He did add the following to clarify his remarks on lap traffic and the competition in general. While he noted it could be frustrating every single week, he doesn’t necessarily think of it as being an issue.

"“I think there’s a lot of great drivers in the Xfinity Series, a majority of the field. You’re gonna have this – I don’t think it’s a problem. It’s just the nature of the beast. I mean, it’s – I don’t know. It sucks. I guess I’m just kind of flustered right now, with my opinion on it. The only thing I can say publicly is there are a few guys who are more challenging to race, but I don’t think it’s a problem. It’s just the nature of the beast.”"

Notably, Starr, who had started the race all the way back in 40th (last) place, had not yet gone a lap down when the incident occurred. He was running in 12th place for the relatively underfunded Carl Long-owned team.

Gragson is set to go for redemption at his home track of Las Vegas Motor Speedway this Saturday, March 6 in the Alsco Uniforms 300, which is set to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET.