Noah Gragson pays his respects to Turn 6 at Chicago after Grant Park 165
Noah Gragson finished his redemption arc on Sunday during the Grant Park 165, as it pertained to Turn 6 during the Chicago Street Race.
Last season, Gragson had a disastrous campaign with Legacy Motor Club, but no performance was worse than what he went through in the Windy City. Gragson crashed multiple times in Turn 6 of the course, which led to a series of digs pointed at the wheelman on social media during the event.
Well, Gragson returned to Chicago under the Stewart-Haas Racing banner on Sunday, and like many other things relating to the Cup Series in 2024 for Gragson, his time in Chicago went much better this time around. So much so that Gragson even shouted out Turn 6 on X, formerly known as Twitter, after the race.
“Turn 6 (handshake emoji),” Gragson posted on X, letting the world know that he’s come to master the corner that gave him fits in 2023.
While simply not crashing multiple times would’ve been an upgrade over his performance last season, Gragson came home with an awesome finish in Chicago, placing P14 on the afternoon in Illinois. That’s something the No. 10 team can be proud of, and use as momentum moving forward.
Noah Gragson’s plans for 2025 are still in flux, but his performance over the course of the 2024 campaign has been turning heads, like the way he drove in Chicago on Sunday. He’s earned the right to remain in the Cup Series, wherever that may be next season.
Alex Bowman fires back at critics after Chicago Street Race win
In other news, Alex Bowman was feeling himself after snapping an 80-race NASCAR Cup Series winless streak during Sunday’s Chicago Street Race.
The Hendrick Motorsports star has been subject to criticism due to his lack of trips to Victory Lane over the last two and a half years. While Kyle Larson, William Byron and Chase Elliott have been regularly competing for wins, Bowman was wondering what he had to do to get back to a race-winning level.
Perhaps the floodgates will open for Bowman now, as he utilized an impressive drive to get the win in Chicago. Afterwards, while speaking with the media, the No. 48 wheelman fired back at critics who openly wondered whether he was worthy of his seat.
“Man, let me tell you about how great NASCAR is to us drivers. I got to my hotel room, there’s a little box with my name on it, that had a bottle of bourbon in it, so that’s in my bag. I’m pretty excited about that,” Bowman explained, following the race. “But I’ve got a couple bottles, that were bought early in 2022, that were like, ‘The next win, we’re going to drink these,’ and they’ve been sitting on the counter way too f—ing long.
“So yeah, everybody that said I couldn’t win and don’t deserve to be at Hendrick Motorsports and all that bulls—, cheers to you.”
As you can tell, the critics were on Bowman’s mind following the Chicago Street Race, and it felt sweet for the No. 48 wheelman to prove them all wrong. Now that he’s locked into the playoffs, the summer will be all about racking up points and preparing for a shot at the NASCAR Cup Series title in 2024.