NASCAR: Is a championship dark horse beginning to emerge?

Coming off of consecutive wins, Noah Gragson has made the most of his opportunities heading into the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs.

Noah Gragson’s 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series season appeared to be one to forget at first. He has seen his year affected by a career-high six DNFs. His previous career-high in DNFs had been just two in the 2020 season, and he had only eight in his entire NASCAR career going back to his days in the Truck Series.

Slated to become a free agent after the 2021 season the driver of the #9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet was faced with uncertainty. Gragson saw JR Motorsports teammates Justin Allgaier and Josh Berry score victories before if he even knew if he would still be on their team next year.

Gragson’s pending free agency left the 23-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada native himself with “no idea” about what 2022 would bring.

But once JR Motorsports announced his return to drive the #9 Chevrolet next year, Gragson has flipped the script on his season.

DNFs have been replaced with back-to-back wins at Darlington Raceway and Richmond Raceway. Additionally, Gragson has finished outside the top nine just once in the 12 races that have been contested since his most recent DNF in June at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. His average finish since his last DNF has been 5.75.

Now with his plans locked in for 2022, Gragson finds himself having tied his career-high single-season win total and riding his first ever win streak. The rebound he has discovered in recent weeks has turned him into a consistent threat for wins on the race track as well as a showman off of it, à la Tim Richmond.

Gragson now finds himself as the fourth driver with multiple wins this season and a threat to hoist the Xfinity Series championship trophy come November at Phoenix Raceway, a track where Gragson finished in second place last fall. Should he make it to the Championship 4, one more spot is all he needs to be crowned 2021 champion.