"He is a good person" - Noah Gragson's future crew chief praises SHR driver's character despite prior "mistakes"

Noah Gragson's soon-to-be crew chief Drew Blickensderfer believes that the new Stewart-Haas Racing recruit is a "good person" despite the controversial events that went down recently.

Gragson arrived in the NASCAR Cup Series with promise. The Las Vegas native made his full-time Cup debut in 2023 with Legacy Motor Club after impressing with a runner-up finish in the previous Xfinity season.

However, Gragson's first season in NASCAR's top flight garnered attention for all the wrong reasons. The former JR Motorsports driver's name became synonymous with controversy when he was indefinitely suspended by NASCAR and LMC for violation of Section 4.4.D. of the NASCAR Rule Book. It took place after his questionable social media activities.

The 25-year-old was released from his contract at Legacy Motor Club and reinstated by NASCAR a month later after he completed a “diversity and inclusion training.” After months of speculation, Noah Gragson found a new home at Stewart-Haas Racing as a replacement for the departing Aric Almirola.

As Gragson prepares to make his SHR debut in the Cup Series next season and looks for a fresh start, his new crew chief, Drew Blickensderfer, has some kind words for him.

Blickensderfer expressed confidence in Gragson's commitment to personal and professional growth, citing the driver's proactive engagement in diversity training. Speaking to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, he said (via Sportsnaut):

"Last year just didn’t work out but I did my research, had him over for dinner, got to know him and there is a couple of things that stuck out. The quality of human being. He is a good person. He’s made mistakes in the past and he’s learned from them."

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Drew Blickensderfer discusses transitioning Noah Gragson to Stewart-Haas Racing

When addressing the challenge of acclimating Noah Gragson to the SHR environment, Blickensderfer highlighted the importance of understanding the driver's language on the track.

He said:

"Our job at Stewart Haas will probably will be easier than it would have been a couple of years ago of teaching Noah the professionalism you have to bring with you to race on Sundays like a Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson."

With restricted access to the race track for some team members, the crew chief explained the need to carefully choose which engineers and crew members accompany Gragson to specific tracks.

"(Since) not everyone is allowed to go to the race track anymore, we have to pick and choose which tracks certain engineers and crew members go to and we front loaded it because of that. We decided this guy needs to go to the first seven because we need to learn, when Noah says he’s loose, is that five or seven out of 10? What level loose and tight does he mean. We need to learn that really quickly. We’ll have some practices at Daytona."

Noah Gragson, who will drive the No. 10 Ford next season, is set to be the second Stewart-Haas Racing debutant alongside Josh Berry.