Always a fan, Gragson says he still gets ‘a little starstruck’ around Kyle Busch

His fellow racers know him as the young driver of the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota in the Camping World Truck Series.   His social media followers know him as the guy who ate a giant wad of wasabi for 500 retweets – and who tried to ask out Lindsey Vonn via Twitter.   At 19 years old, Noah Gragson rides with a crop of rising stars who are both gifted in racing and the art of crafting 280-character-count tweets. Authentic and mischievous, he puts time into his social media presence both at and away from the race track to give fans a peak into his world. RELATED: Gragson set to make Xfinity Series debut | Career stats for Gragson Because at the end of the day, the Las Vegas native was a fan before he was ever a driver.   “I always try to be myself, for the most part, on social media,” Gragson said Wednesday. “I’m just like all the fans; I’m a normal guy, I get excited when I see Kyle Busch walking around and start getting a little starstruck by him being in my presence … (Social media is) a way I can connect to the fans and be myself and show my personality.”   The idea of a driver getting starstruck by another is one thing – especially a young, up-and-coming star. But the notion of Gragson being dazzled by Busch, his team owner and mentor, is somewhat unexpected.   “Harrison Burton always trash-talks me; We were racing Kyle Busch in a Super Late Model race and I was like, ‘Man, like I really want to go get his autograph. Like, bad,’” Gragson recalled. “And he kept on making fun of me all day -- all weekend he’s like, ‘You want to go get his autograph? You’re racing against him, dude. You can’t go get his autograph.’   “I’m like, ‘Dude, I want his autograph, bad.’”   Fans collect autographs and at the end of the day, that’s what Gragson is deep down; he was cheering for others on TV before he ever climbed behind the wheel of his own stock car.   “Every time I see Kyle Busch pop up on the little name deal on the little notification thing on my phone, I’m like ‘Damn, that’s Kyle Busch right there,’ you know?” he said.  “I mean it’s pretty cool. I always collected his die cast growing up. I have all those guys; Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson and Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch. All their cars in my room in Vegas.   “It’s a secret, nobody knows,” he added.   This weekend at Richmond Raceway, Gragson will make his first start in the Xfinity Series, piloting the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. It’s a car that has been driven to Victory Lane on multiple occasions by several drivers, including Busch.   No matter how much he moves up in his career, though, the racing fandom will always be there.   So, that starstruck feeling may stick around a bit longer – especially around "Rowdy."   “At the end of the day, I’m more of a fan of the sport and I always have been a fan of the sport,” he said. “The driving deal has been a lot newer to me. So, just always sticking to what I started with and that’s being a fan and seeing where those guys are and always dreaming of getting to that level and I’ve never been at that level.   “Just getting to see (Busch) in person, I get all excited. I don’t know – I’m weird like that.”