Noah Gragson, the NASCAR driver suspended by both the series and his Legacy Motor Club team for social media conduct last weekend, has requested release from his contract with the program. Gragson and Legacy announced Thursday the pair have parted ways, effective immediately.
While the end of his contract with Legacy also ends his team suspension, Gragson remains indefinitely suspended by NASCAR. The situation stems from an earlier publicly visible "like" of a post on Instagram about the 2020 killing of George Floyd, which sparked months of protests against police brutality and racism throughout the United States.
"I have asked Legacy Motor Club to release me from my contract so that I can take time to work through the NASCAR reinstatement process," Gragson said in a statement released by the team on Thursday. "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."
The same release includes a quote from CEO Cal Wells III.
"Noah has a ton of talent and has a great personality," Wells said. "This is a difficult situation, but we are proud that Noah has taken ownership of his actions and are confident he will work through the process with NASCAR and come back stronger."
Gragson struggled on track throughout the 2023 season, his first full-time year in the NASCAR Cup Series. He has finished in the top 20 just twice in 21 starts, has yet to score a finish better than 12th and has not finished better than 22nd since March.
Rumors reported by The Athletic already suggested that the soon-to-be Toyota-aligned Legacy Motor Club operation already had plans to replace Gragson with John Hunter Nemechek before this story broke last weekend. In the time since, Nemechek has won the most recent Xfinity Series race and Gragson has been released from the remainder of his existing contract.
