DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Noah Gragson is no longer a rookie in the NASCAR Cup Series, but that does not mean he is taking anything for granted. He is soaking up every moment of his first season with Front Row Motorsports, especially this weekend at Daytona.
"There are only gonna be 40 or maybe 41 people in the world that get to run this race this year," Gragson said Wednesday at Daytona.
"And it's pretty surreal to be able to have the opportunity, not only to run this race once or even to make a lap at Daytona, whether it be in NASCAR Racing Experience cars... To say you've been able to do that, this is a dream of mine to just make a lap here."
Soaking up the moment is not something that Gragson has always done throughout his career. There have been times when he won a race and then immediately moved on.
He looked ahead to the next race on the schedule or the next opportunity instead of taking a moment to fully recognize what he and his team accomplished.
Just look at his first career Xfinity Series win in 2020. This win took place at Daytona, something that Gragson occasionally forgets even when driving through the tunnel into the historic track.
Another example is his first career ARCA West win in 2015. Gragson celebrated the win at Tucson Speedway but not as much as he should have.
"I was laying in bed months later and I was like, 'Man if I could just go back to that moment and stand on top of the car, that would just be the coolest thing ever to win again and feel that emotion and all the excitement,'" Gragson said.
The Las Vegas native began making a concerted effort to focus more on the special moments after his ARCA West win. This was evident during his final years at JR Motorsports as he climbed the catchfence and did prolonged burnouts.
Gragson further recognized the importance of gratitude after a career-altering moment in 2023. He lost his job at Legacy Motor Club midway through the season and received an indefinite suspension from NASCAR for his activities on Instagram.
Instead of racing each week and worrying about a lack of speed in the No. 42, he was sitting at home watching another driver control the car.
Gragson had some jealousy and animosity after losing his seat. He also further understood the importance of looking back and being grateful because as he discovered, the situation could always be worse.
Now fully back in the Cup Series, Gragson is grateful. He has more opportunities to pursue wins, and he gets to do so with two of his best friends as teammates.
Sure, he will still have moments of frustration throughout the season but they won't distract from the fact that he's part of one of the most exclusive clubs in the country.
"I've tried to take different moments throughout the race weekends and say, 'Hey, man, this is really cool stuff,'" Gragson said. "Pre-race, 'This is awesome.' In the middle of the race, 'Dang, this is really cool.
"Just try and take that in. Take a second or two to just realize how cool this shit is."