Noah Gragson opens up about why he's dialed back his social media

Noah Gragson is pulling the curtain back on why his social media persona has taken a hit over recent months.

The NASCAR rookie was continuously shedding some light on his life and career during his time in the Xfinity Series, but has seemingly stopped over the last couple of months, as he gets used to the rigors of the Cup Series. Speaking with The Athletic‘s Jeff Gluck during this week’s 12 Questions, Gragson explained why.

“I’ve kind of just stopped sharing. You can’t win with the corporate side of the sport. I’m not saying it’s bad; that’s what keeps our sport going. But if I don’t have anything positive to say about, ‘Hey, we had a great race,’ then I don’t even tweet anything out,” said Gragson. “I still battle the fine line. You hang out with buddies and go to dinner and take a picture. Someone’s got a cocktail in their hand, it’s a problem. And it might just be a Coca-Cola or something, but I definitely still fight the same thing. Now it’s kind of transitioned into, ‘Everything you’ve done on social media got you here and that’s why you’re here, but you can’t do that right now.’ And that sucks.

“I definitely want to be myself, but I’m burnt out, too. Not in a bad way, but it’s not my priority. It used to be higher up on my priority list. Now I’m just trying to finish a race. It feels like everyone asks you, ‘You won all these races last year and you can’t even finish a race this year.’ It’s like, s—, I’m trying to work every day, you know?”

Additionally, the double standard that Gragson has experienced has contributed to his lack of posting as well, as he elaborated some more.

“It’s weird in this deal,” explained Gragson. “You can go out and party your tail off every night all season long. I mean, the night before a race. And you go out there and win the race. Everyone’s like, ‘You gotta go do what that guy is doing. He’s partying and that’s why he’s good because he’s loose.’ And then you go do that and you have success and they’re like, ‘That’s why right there.’

“Then a month later, you’re not winning and it’s, ‘Well, it’s because you’re out.’ People in the moment, everyone has an opinion when you’re not running well and what you need to fix. And I’m not saying that example for myself, but I’m just saying in anything like that, they always have an opinion when you’re not doing good, but everything is OK when you are doing good. So it’s a little bit of a double-edged sword that I’m fighting right now.”

Perhaps with success, social media will return for Noah Gragson. Instead of wasting some time, he’s focused on making his car the best it can be, and getting results later in his rookie season.