NASCAR star brutally honest on Cup Series complaints: 'Why do we gotta f*****g fix everything?'

All the talk around the challenges and frustrations facing NASCAR drivers might just be overrated, at least if you ask Noah Gragson.

The 27-year-old Front Row Motorsports star, who drives the No.4 Ford car in 2026, is clearly not a man who loses too much sleep over the logistics of racing a stock car.

This week Gragson was the subject of The Athletic’s latest ‘12 Questions’ interview - a regular must-read from insider Jeff Gluck. And his take on things, we have to say, was pretty refreshing.

In this format, Gluck asks every interviewee to give him a question he can pose to his next guest. And the question flying towards Gragson came from his Cup Series rival Christopher Bell. Specifically “How do we fix the speedway package?”

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Gragson emphatic about 'fixing NASCAR'

Clearly there is a little ‘shut up and drive’ in Gragson, as he fired back immediately: “What’s wrong with it? Why do we gotta f****** fix everything? I don’t get it. We got what we got. Let’s just go do it.”

Gluck was not totally full with that answer, so he followed up by asking Noah if the fuel-saving strategy would be something that bothered him. Again, he need not have asked.

Noah shot back: “No! Save more fuel than the other guys and do a better job than them, and you’ll find yourself up front at the end of these things after the last green-flag pit stop.

“He’s [Bell] mad because what? Because we’re racing? I don’t understand. I’m not the best road course racer. He might not be the best superspeedway racer. But you still go and you try your best. I could say, ‘Oh, I need a bigger spoiler on the car for a
road course because I suck at it. We need to f****** fix that.’

“No. I just need to become a better road course racer. Become a better speedway racer. I dunno, save fuel better. Don’t be a dumba** and run wide open the whole time. Strategy.”

This is a results business

Gragson has a pretty simple view on everything when it comes to the rules and the strategy that go into NASCAR Cup Series racing. In short, drivers will form a view of how right/wrong things are based on their results.

“They’re all playing checkers. It’s not that difficult. Just run less throttle than the rest of the guys around you, and you’re gonna spend less time on pit road and you’re gonna be up front by the end of the thing.

“Christopher Bell wins a superspeedway race and he’s gonna be like, 'Yo, this s*** is awesome. Hell yeah!'"