Following Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series EchoPark 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, fourth-place finisher Noah Gragson was called to the NASCAR hauler following an afternoon where he backed into Daniel Hemric’s No. 18 Toyota Supra on pit road during a live round of pit stops and then got into a post-race fight with Hemric.
Video: Post-Race Fight Breaks Out Between Noah Gragson and Daniel Hemric at Atlanta
NASCAR has confirmed to TobyChristie.com that Hemric was not also called to the hauler, and that if Gragson is to face any penalties stemming from his actions on Saturday, they’ll be announced early next week.
This is the latest in a long line of controversies involving Gragson, who has had a rough start to the 2021 season.
Last February after incidents in back-to-back weekends with Myatt Snider and Ross Chastain, NASCAR forced Gragson into their hauler before practice at Phoenix to discuss his recent driving.
Noah Gragson Forced to the NASCAR Hauler During Start of Xfinity Series Practice at Phoenix
When June rolled around, Gragson made contact with his teammate Justin Allgaier late at Bristol, which sent Allgaier crashing and Gragson went on to win:
Video: Contact From Noah Gragson Sends Justin Allgaier Crashing Late at Bristol
In July, Gragson got into a post-race fist fight with Harrison Burton after Burton took exception to Gragson spinning him during the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Kentucky:
Video: Fists Fly Between Noah Gragson and Harrison Burton After Friday Race at Kentucky
A week after the incident with Burton, Gragson spun fellow Las Vegas-native Riley Herbst at Texas, which angered Herbst:
Video: Riley Herbst: ‘He Has More to Lose Than I Do’ After Being Crashed by Gragson at Texas
Fast forward to 2021, and three weeks before Saturday’s incident with Hemric, Gragson had an altercation with David Starr late in the race at Homestead, where Gragson was leading. The crash led to Gragson having harsh words for Starr, which angered Starr’s car owner Carl Long:
Carl Long Takes Exception to “Over Entitled Mouthpiece” Noah Gragson’s “Dipshits” Comment
4 Responses
Hemric went up to gragson after the race he didn’t go seeking him out. He has to be able to defend himself. I think it’s totally wrong for NASCAR to punish just one person over the incident. Hemric has to be liable for what he did as well. There’s always 2 sides to every story and usually nobody is totally innocent on either side of things. Meaning if one driver is going to be penalized then both should be penalized. If gragson gets penalized and hemeric doesn’t I’ll definitely stop watching NASCAR in protest.
I don’t think NASCAR is concerned with the post-race scuffle as much as it is about the backing into a car on pit road.