"I would be embarrassed to be associated with him" - Noah Gragson's antics at Road America Xfinity race has left his fellow racer unimpressed

JR Motorsports driver Noah Gragson did not make many friends last weekend as the NASCAR Xfinity Series went racing at Road America. The Henry 180 at the Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin track saw the 23-year-old come to blows with Sage Karam of Alpha Prime Racing during the 180-mile-long race.

The incident between the two young drivers started in the final stages of the race when Gragson and Karam made contact with each other on several occasions. The #9 and #45 Chevrolet Camaros of Gragson and Karam came together multiple times through Turn 1, all the way to Turn 3, which prompted Gragson to lose his cool.

The Las Vegas, Nevada native eventually went on to clip and turn Karam's car down the straight between Turns 3 and 5. This caused a large pile-up on one of the fastest sections of the track, involving multiple cars along with Karam and Gragson.

Part-time Alpha Prime Racing driver Tommy Joe Martins saw the incident unfold and made his thoughts clear post-race, saying:

“I would be embarrassed to be associated with him [Gragson]. How many times is he going to publicly apologize? Now he’s trying to act like he’s a bad dude, tough guy. Like are you kidding me, that’s the softest thing I’ve ever seen. I’ll tell you what’s tough, trying to come out here and racing with a budget that’s less than a quarter of what they’re doing.”

Another JR Motorsports driver, Josh Berry, who saw the tussle unfold in front of him had to take evasive action as the two cars in front of him spun. Berry went on to speak on how Karam, who is a part-time driver, raced Gragson, saying:

“These guys come in and run one race and just don’t race a lot of the regulars with respect, in my opinion. You see half the time all of their cars are torn all to hell every race. That’s between them and Noah, not me.”

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Noah Gragson explains why he retaliated towards Sage Karam

Noah Gragson spoke out about why he thought turning Karam around during the Henry 180 at Road America felt like the correct thing to do at the time. The 23-year-old spoke to track-side media after climbing out of his car and said:

“I guess he forgot the three times he throw it off in the corner, door us and run us off the racetrack so eventually you get sick and tired of it. I hate people’s stuff got torn up but three times is a bit ridiculous just today. I take responsibilty.”

Watch the complete interview below:

Watch Noah Gragson take on the Atlanta Motor Speedway this upcoming weekend for the Alsco Uniforms 250.