NASCAR notebook: Gragson enters Round of 6 with no practice
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[October 27, 2018]
MARTINSVILLE, Va. - It was 11:15 on a rainy Friday
morning, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series playoff driver Noah
Gragson was already on his second hot dog when he took questions
from reporters at Martinsville Speedway.
"The first one was mustard and slaw," Gragson said of the
Martinsville dog. "I don't like chili, but I got chili on the second
one, and it's not bad. It's got a little beef jerky taste to it, so
it's not bad."
The hotdogs may be a consistent amenity at the .526-mile short
track, but the racing surface at the oldest Monster Energy NASCAR
Cup Series facility is variable and fickle.
"I feel like this race track itself is different every time you come
here," said Gragson, who is third in the playoff standings, 11
points ahead of fifth place, with the field set to be narrowed to
the top four in three races hence at Phoenix. "You can come with the
same setup for 10 years and you're going to run differently every
single time. It's just the way the track takes rubber.
"I feel like the weather and the temperature outside plays a big
part in that."
With persistent rain forcing cancellation of all track activity on
Friday, Gragson was resigned to qualifying on Saturday morning with
no practice.
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"I'm coming back with a different setup than what we had in the
springtime here, so not getting any practice, you can't really lean
on past success here," said Gragson, who picked up his first victory
in the series at last year's playoff race at Martinsville. "Just
been trying to work hard with my crew chief, Rudy Fugle.
"He and I sat down. We had ice cream a couple days ago for about an
hour and just talked about this weekend and what we needed to do
about this round in the playoffs and then Martinsville and just
coming here with a different setup. It's going to be challenging."
IT'S BACK TO PLAYOFF BEAST MODE FOR GRANT ENFINGER
After a welcome breather at his home track, Talladega Superspeedway,
the intensity of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs
returns for Grant Enfinger in Saturday's Texas Road House 200 at
Martinsville (1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Enfinger earned a relatively stress-free trip to Talladega with an
impressive victory at Las Vegas in the second race of the Round of
8. That win guaranteed him a spot in the Round of 6, but entering
Saturday's race at NASCAR's shortest track, Enfinger is four points
ahead of Justin Haley in fourth, with the Playoff set to be cut to
four drivers two weeks later at Phoenix.
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![](../images/102718pics/sports63.jpg)
Camping World Truck Series driver Noah Gragson (18) wrecks during
the Talladega 250 at Talladega Superspeedway. Mandatory Credit:
Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Mar/14/images/ads/current/tires250x300.gif)
"Talladega was kind of an anomaly for us," Enfinger told the NASCAR
Wire Service at Martinsville. "We've kind of had the same mind-set
all year long, to be aggressive but also be smart. We still need
stage points, everything we can get. Every position matters. That's
the mind-set this weekend.
"Obviously, it was a huge load off to get that win and to
automatically advance through the last round, but now everything's
the same (after the points reset). It would be really nice to do
that again this weekend, and I feel like we've got a truck that can
do it. We've had really good Ford Performance F-150s the last couple
months here. It seems like we've really elevated."
AFTER TALLADEGA NAIL-BITER, BRETT MOFFITT IS UPBEAT ABOUT TITLE
CHANCES
Despite being a four-time winner in the NASCAR Camping World Truck
Series this season, Brett Moffitt had a close call in the NASCAR
Camping World Truck Series Round of 8 elimination race at Talladega.
After sustaining early damage, he finished 17th and advanced to the
Round of 6 by eight points. But after the points reset, Moffitt
enters Saturday's race at Martinsville back in second place in the
standings with a 13-point cushion over fifth place -- not to mention
considerable optimism about his prospects of advancing to the
Championship 4 race at Homestead.
"Yeah, for sure," Moffitt said. "We ran decent here in the spring.
This round in general is just three better race tracks for us. I
think for most of the field, you know the road course and Talladega
all in one round had everyone nervous and everyone aggressive at
Vegas.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2018/Oct/27/images/ads/current/beason_ag_sda_101613.png)
"I think everyone's going to be a little bit smarter here, and we
can go back to our past success this season and try to rely on that
to get through to Homestead and hopefully fight for a championship."
--By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level
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