Noah Gragson, the young driver released from his NASCAR contract this week over his behavior online, has seen silver linings to the cloud as his followers on social media jumped and he won praise and encouragement from his former team boss.
The 25-year-old driver was handed an indefinite suspension from driving in the series after he appeared to like a meme on social media mocking the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in 2020. The NASCAR driver then requested to be released from his contract as he considered his next move.
Gragson and the Legacy Motor Club announced their parting on social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, in a statement: "Today, Noah Gragson requested to be released from his contract as the driver of the No.42 for Legacy Motor Club."
The statement included a quote from the young driver saying he had asked to be released from his contract so he "can take time to work through the NASCAR reinstatement process."
"I love racing, and I am looking forward to a second chance to compete for wins at the highest level of NASCAR—and most importantly, make my family, my team and the fans proud of me once again," he said.
Not everyone felt the suspension was justified, and there has been a backlash from NASCAR fans, with many calling for a Bud Light-style boycott of the sport.
That may be the main driver behind Gragson seeing a spike in new followers on social media this week, as many fans looked to show their support by joining his pages on Instagram and X.
According to Social Blade, the NASCAR driver has gained over 2,000 new followers on Instagram since the weekend, taking him to 122,000 followers on that platform.
Over on X, Gragson has had even more success, with more than 4,000 accounts joining his 110,000 strong following.
There were also some words of comfort and encouragement from Cal Wells III, the CEO of Legacy, who praised Gragson's talent and said that he expects him to come back to the sport even better than he left it.
"Noah has a ton of talent and has a great personality. This is a difficult situation, but we are proud that Noah has taken ownership of his actions and are confident he will work through this process with NASCAR and come back stronger," he said in the statement that announced Gragson's departure.
This is Gragson's first full season racing in the NASCAR Cup series and he is 33rd in the standings. He hasn't had any top 10 finishes.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
