“Can't hear you that far down the leader board”: Noah Gragson pokes fun at millionaire NASCAR rival after almost wrecking him at COTA

Noah Gragson had a friendly banter with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. over an early blunder at the Circuit of the Americas. He told Stenhouse Jr. to speak up despite sitting way below his NASCAR rival in the standings.

For context, Gragson carried too much speed in turn one of lap five at COTA, resulting in him spinning off-track. He almost collected $30 million-worth driver Stenhouse Jr. (according to Celebrity Net Worth). Subsequently, Gragson posted on X, stating that he almost got a payback for the lap 186 multi-car crash in the Daytona 500.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. responded by telling Noah Gragson to run more dirt races. Gragson clapped back and wrote:

"Can't hear you that far down the leader board. Speak up."

The tweet is reminiscent of NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Jesse Love's jab at Sheldon Creed over their heated incident at COTA. After taking Creed's second place in the standings, Love told his rival to look at the scoreboard.

However, Noah Gragson sits 27th in the Cup Series standings, a far cry from Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who ranks 10th.

Gragson moved up nine positions after finishing eighth in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at COTA, driving for his new team, Front Row Motorsports. It is his best result so far following 28th- and 34th-place finishes at Daytona and Atlanta, respectively.

He drives the No. 4 Ford Mustang for FRM after his former team, Stewart-Haas Racing, left the sport last season.

Noah Gragson driving the No. 4 Ford Mustang at COTA - Source: Imagn

The next race weekend is scheduled for March 9 at Phoenix Raceway. The 312-lap contest is the first of two stops at the 1.0-mile oval track as the venue will also host the Championship 4 race in November.

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Noah Gragson shared optimistic take after strong outing at COTA

Despite a tough start at the Circuit of the Americas, Noah Gragson said he and the No. 4 team didn't quit in seeing the checkered flag. He battled to the front to finish eighth after ending stage one in 33rd and stage two in 31st.

The 26-year-old Front Row Motorsports driver said (via Altdriver):

"Some people, it's not driving good at the beginning of the race, they might quit, but we never quit on this team."

He commended the team for pushing until the end, saying:

"Super proud of everyone's efforts. It was not looking good the first run. The first run, we were horrible, and they went to work on it. Pit crew did a great job. Crew chief (Drew Blickensderfer) called a great race, and we were able to get up there at the end."

Noah Gragson leads a group of cars at COTA - Source: Imagn

The eighth-place finish at COTA is Gragson's first top-10 since the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last July 2024. FRM teammate Todd Gilliland joined him in the top 10 finishing list in the first road course race of the season.

Zane Smith, meanwhile, has yet to score his first top-10. His best finish was 11th place at Atlanta Motor Speedway.