Television cameras caught Noah Gragson walking to the wall and vomiting right after the NASCAR Cup Series race ended on Sunday. The driver of the No. 4 car had just finished ninth in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Shortly after, the TV broadcast displayed Gragson approaching the inner wall and vomiting. Commenting on Gragson, NASCAR TV analyst Marty Snider stated: “[Dale Jarrett], you talked about a grueling night it is and Noah showing us that. … Not feeling after the race for Noah Gragson,” Snider said, according to MotorBiscuit. This physical reaction was not new for the driver, who once threw up after winning a Truck Series race in 2017.
The On-Track Crash That Led to the Sickness
Gragson took responsibility for spinning out Daniel Suarez with 15 laps left in the 267-lap race. “I got out of the car and went over to him and was telling him, ‘Hey, that’s on me.’ You never want to spin out a competitor. I feel like I race all these guys with a lot of respect. I feel like I point a lot of guys by throughout the year. I race hard but, for the most part, I try to race as clean as I can. That was just a mistake on my part,” Gragson said. While Gragson ended up 31st in the final NASCAR Cup Series standings, Suarez recovered from the spin to take eighth place.
A Clean Inspection Confirms the Results
While the sickness drew attention, officials had to verify the race results before the season could officially end. NASCAR finished its work in the Cup Series garage, a fact Matt Weaver confirmed on social media by sharing the inspection results. “Post-race inspection in the NASCAR Cup Series garage at Homestead-Miami Speedway is complete. No issues. Results confirmed. Standings confirmed. Season concluded,” Weaver wrote. This clean check meant Kyle Larson kept his third NASCAR Cup Series championship and Ryan Blaney kept his race win. Blaney passed Tyler Reddick right before the white flag to claim the checkered flag by 0.314 of a second.
Redemption for Blaney After a Painful Past
“The last two years, I’ve had nightmares about that finish,” Blaney said afterward. “It’s nice to get a little redemption from that.” Larson finished 12th after making several contacts with the wall, but his early championship clinch left him with little to fight for in the remaining laps. Christopher Bell lost the 2026 season finale to Larson by 49 points in the final standings. The final technical review of the 2026 NASCAR season ended without any cars being sent to the NASCAR Research & Development Center for additional checks.
