Noah Gragson SUSPENDED | Talking to NASCAR Playoff Bubble Drivers

Noah Gregson has been

suspended

indefinitely and with only four races left until the Nascar Cup Series

playoff

s, let's hear directly from some

bubble

drivers

how everyone is doing. My name is Eric, welcome to get off the beat. I'm inside the Michigan International Speedway, they can. You probably hear that humming noise in the background that is a practice of the cup series. I think Group B is on the way, we're in a hostile recording environment, but I had to sit down and make a really quick video, my second video of the day if you missed it before.

This morning I uploaded a video I made yesterday in the Roush Automotive collection. I had the opportunity to see basically racing cars from my childhood, cars that I grew up watching race on television, since in video games they had real settings that could just be visited for free in nearby Livonia Michigan, so watch the video after this in case You may have missed it, but let's get to today's breaking news. Noah Gregson, the rookie of the Legacy Motor Club, has been

suspended

by Legacy Motor Club and now he has also been suspended by NASCAR let's start with the statement from Legacy Motor Club because this came out of nowhere, we have made the decision to suspend Noah Gregson with immediate effect regarding his actions that do not represent our team values ​​Josh Berry will drive the number 42 car for this weekend's NASCAR Cup Series race in Michigan Josh Berry Super Sub, let's see, he's driven all nine, he's driven the 48, will now drive the 42 this year.

I'm missing some, but Josh Berry is not the story here. Noah Gregson and Noah tweeted theirs. statement this morning Gregson said that I am disappointed in myself for my lack of attention and actions on social media. I understand the seriousness of this situation. I love and appreciate everyone. I try to treat everyone the same, no matter who they are, I screwed it up plain and simple. Shortly after Legacy Motor Club decided to suspend Gregson, NASCAR issued its official ruling saying that NASCAR fully supports Legacy Motor Club's decision to suspend Noah Greggs and, following his actions on social media, NASCAR determined that Gregson has violated the member conduct section of the 2023 NASCAR rule book. and has placed him under indefinite suspension.

There's a lot going on here indefinitely that could mean more than just this week. It could mean several weeks. They could mean the entire season. I honestly don't know how NASCAR will react to this in the future because I'm sure. Many of you are wondering what Noah Gregson did, what he really did to justify this extremely harsh sanction. I must admit that I don't know exactly what he did, although there have been some screenshots floating around on social media. I don't want to know. share them because they are not verified, but there are some screenshots of Noah Gregson supposedly liking an offensive meme on Instagram or some social media platform.

I'm not going to go into details again, that's not confirmed, but those screenshots are true. It's not something that Noah Gregson himself posted on his platforms, it was something that someone he knows in the world posted that Noah Gregson hit the like button and likes on most social media platforms are public so people saw that something of a commotion had been created. As a result, social media and the Legacy Motor Club in NASCAR reacted. Look, I'm not the kind of person who likes to analyze what people like on social media, but at the same time Noah Gregson has to understand the position he's in, he's a public figure. that represents a lot of major corporations, corporations that are afraid of all the potentially negative publicity, the meme that Noah Gregson supposedly liked and that has been floating around social media was extremely edgy, really dark, offensive, it was in bad taste, it was dumb , you can argue that it's dumb for someone to get suspended for liking a post on social media and I can agree with you on that, but at the same time it's just as dumb, if not more so, than someone in the position of Noah Gregson makes such a glaring mistake.

It seems like only half of being a racing driver is actually having the talent behind the wheel, the other half is how friendly you are with sponsors, what your personality is, how do fans like you, corporate sponsors like You, that's always been half the job and Noah Gregson, we've questioned his maturity in the past, he hasn't done it yet? I found that half the role, so I don't like suspending people for liking things on social media, but that's the world we live in. Legacy Motor Club has sponsors who have to answer to Nascar. He has sponsors who have to answer to Noah Gregson. putting everyone in a very difficult situation for being stupid for just being stupid and the timing of this happening is even more terrible for Noah Gregson and his career considering just a few days ago we were

talking

about a report from the athletic that Toyota when you know them at Legacy motor club joined forces next year Toyota is looking to replace Gregson with John Hunter Nemechek they are actively looking to replace Noah Gregson before this controversy this controversy will only speed up that process Toyota could even sweeten the deal with Martin Church Jr even further to ensure let him stay so they can put John Hunter at 42.

I don't know, maybe it's just speculation, but the timing is terrible. Noah Gregson has already had a terrible rookie season and I defended him earlier this week by saying not everyone. It's their fault that Legacy Motor Club clearly took a step back during an outgoing year with Chevrolet, but I mean Noah Gregson has made more than his share of mistakes this year and now he's making mistakes off the track too, that's what Half of the time. job, whether you like it or not, half the job is being patron-friendly. Noah Gregson walks a fine line and in this case, unfortunately, he crossed it to steal a line from Richard Childress Racing.

The timing of this couldn't be worse. I really hope the audio is okay because I think there was a warning on the track so it was quiet for a moment but now the cars are back on the track and it's like a buzz in the back of my head. My microphone is working overtime here, hopefully, everything. Sounds good, I hope Noah Gregson learns from this look. Being a public figure is difficult. Certain people, certain jobs, can get away with shocking offensive jokes, not NASCAR

drivers

. No, you can't get away with it here, not when you have millions of meticulous dollars. corporate sponsorship behind it, so that's my reaction.

I had the opportunity today, before this news broke, to speak with several drivers from the Nascar Cup Series

playoff

bubble

. I was able to talk to them about this race in Michigan that's going on tomorrow, as well as the next two weeks of road courses I want to share some of those clips with you real quick. I spoke with Michael Mcdowell, who is currently 18 points above the cut line, clinging to that last playoff spot. I asked him about his level of confidence not only in this. weekend, but especially on the two road courses coming up, where McDowell has historically run very well, we know we're going to have decent speed.

You know the problem we have, so the guys that were competing for the cut right when you look at AJ Almondinger when you look at Daniel Suarez and even Ty Gibbs, it's not that those guys aren't good on real fields, if anything, They are really good, but the other side of the coin is that we are too and that's how we go. To be able to manage, we are going to be able to score some points and score stage points and in past years we always tried to win the race, we did not try to score points well, yes, and that is why we always turn it around.

In the stages we always stopped two to go, so I don't have many stage points on the road courses because we are always on that strategy and now that is erased, so when we go third or fourth, we are going to get those stage points and It is not going to harm our strategy. McDowell mentioned some of the drivers he is competing with for the final playoffs, but he mentioned AJ Almendinger. AJ Almondinger. The Great Road Course racer, all eyes will be on him next weekend in India and a week later at Watkins Glen, so I asked AJ Almendinger if he thinks Cola Grayson's road course performance is where it should be. be.

Does he feel confident? I don't know if I ever use the word confident for myself, you know, I think we have space. to get better, sure, you know, I think it's one of those things that if we can get the setup, we can race and run at the front and have a chance to go, maybe possibly win the race, but also in the moments where we lose it . you know we're not very good, I think Chicago was a little disappointing, we just missed the setup, uh, I think part of it is also trying to figure out how we got to the right setup, you know, sometimes Sam guides you. down a bad path and that's all you have and in a short practice session, once you lose it, you miss it, so um, but yeah, I mean, I think we'll see after this weekend the mentality of if we have to go. win the race or we're still competing for points and you know, we're seeing how Sunday goes and we'll make a judgment from there.

I appreciate AJ Almader's honesty, but he doesn't sound as confident as I do. He would like to be 22 points below the cut line. He doesn't need to win any of these races, but he probably needs to be in the top five. He needs to rack up some stage points at Watkins Glen in Indianapolis to have a chance to mark his path, especially when you consider Ty Gibbs, Michael Mcdowell, two good road racers are ahead of him and lastly, I asked Daniel Suarez on the track, you know since that win in Nashville, and I know Shane Dan Gisbergen, one in Chicago, but in reality, both Daniel Suarez and Ross Chastain have been very inconsistent, we have seen Suarez lose more and more points down the line cut each week, he now has 34 points.

I asked him what the track house needs to do to find some consistency. this is what he said, the order numbers, the price on the Force package low because That low downforce has been a little difficult, not a lot, but a little, and um, so we're not too surprised with that, um, but uh in the normal falls track package like here in Michigan, we should be. It'll be okay, so, you know, we've got some good ratios going for us and we've got to take advantage of them. We'll have a lot more to talk about after Michigan this weekend, but that'll do it for this episode, thank you. so much to watch, be sure to hit the subscribe button, we talk about the latest NASCAR news almost every day, good and unfortunately, like today, sometimes bad, and thanks to my Patreon supporters too for your generous support, thanks to you.

I get to come here to Michigan and document some of these races, hear from these drivers firsthand and share it with you too. I really appreciate your support, if you come to Michigan tomorrow stay tuned, I'll be in the fan areas most of the morning so I'll see you guys and then enjoy the Xfinity race later today. Have a wonderful weekend, friends, thanks for tuning in, thank you.