NASCAR makes late ruling, forces Noah Gragson to start from rear at Iowa

NASCAR previously announced that Kyle Busch would be the only driver forced to start from the rear of the field in Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350 at Iowa Speedway. Now, Noah Gragson will join Busch.

Gragson’s did some brake rotor work in the morning, which was initially ruled OK since it was a safety issue from a single-source part. But according to Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, Gragson’s No. 4 team did enough additional work that NASCAR has dropped him to the rear. Gragson won’t have to drop too far, as he had qualified 31st.

It’s been a struggle for Gragson in his first season piloting the No. 4 Ford for Front Row Motorsports. He sits 34th among the 36 full-time drivers in the points standings, with three top 10s and one top five in 22 starts. Gragon has six DNFs, tied for second most among drivers.

Noah Gragson hoping to turn it around at Iowa

In hasn’t always been Gragson’s fault. He’s certainly been collected in others’ messes this season.

“I’ve just gotten collected in a lot of wrecks, and it’s pretty frustrating,” Gragson said, via SportsCasting. “I think the speed of our race cars keeps us focused and confident when we go to the track. If you don’t have the speed and you’re getting in wrecks, you’re like, ‘Man, I can’t catch a break.’ But, right now, it goes up and down. The beginning of the year, we were just kind of trying to sell blue sky and saying, ‘It’s gonna be OK. This is eventually gonna turn.’

“Maybe more than ever we’re telling ourselves that, but we have the speed. The speed is not a huge issue. It doesn’t matter if we’re 30th or fifth or anywhere in between, it seems like we just get caught up in a wreck.”