Noah Gragson and Kevin Magnussen had eventful outings in the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series in San Diego on Sunday, as the two drivers had multiple run-ins. Unhappy with the situation, they had an altercation post-race, which was laden with expletives from both sides.

In a video shared by Dalton Hopkins on X, Gragson can be seen pressing the issue about their run-ins, but Magnussen didn't want to continue interacting and asked him to "f*** off."

In an interview with Frontstretch after that, when Gragson was asked what transpired in that conversation with the former F1 driver, he replied:

"He said, f*** off basically. I just wanted to know what his f****** problem was."

Having started the race from 21st place, Magnussen mostly ran within the top 20 for the entire race. Although Gragson started way back, from 32nd place, they had back-and-forths on multiple occasions.

Their first run-ins took place on Lap 25 when the two competed for 32nd place. It was Magnussen who broke later than Gragson, and as a result, the latter banged at the back of the former. Following this, they had another door bang and went on to tussle in the final chicane of the next lap.

The next incident came with 37 laps to go in the race. Magnussen was right behind Gragson, as they battled for 15th place in Stage 2. It appeared that the two banged doors again before Magnussen hit Gragson's right rear.

After the race, Gragson was waiting for Magnussen at the pit road for an explanation. Looking at the seriousness of the incoming confrontation, the security present there told Gragson, "No hands."

Noah Gragson has been involved in a physical altercation before, when he confronted Ross Chastain in 2023 at Kansas.

Kevin Magnussen eventually finished 27th on his NASCAR debut with Trackhouse Racing and also had the fastest lap of the race, while his Front Row Motorsports rival had a DNF.

Heim-time headlined NASCAR's debut in San Diego

NASCAR's inaugural Cup race at the San Diego military base was eventful, as Corey Heim, the 23-year-old part-time driver from 23XI Racing, picked up his first Cup win.

He overtook teammate and championship leader Tyler Reddick with two laps to go. While Reddick fell to 25th with a flat tire, Heim eventually brought home 23XI's first 1-2, with Bubba Wallace in second, albeit 10.365 seconds behind.

"I’m speechless," Heim said after completing an extended celebratory burnout. "I mean, we started the race, I think we started 13th. We fell straight back to 20th. Then put on our scuffs from qualifying, struggled just as bad."

But after a change of tires, it was all good for Heim in the No. 67 car. He said he took a "deep breath" after Stage 2, hit the "reset" button, and brought the San Diego trophy home.

Meanwhile, Reddick's misfortune made way for Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson to finish on the podium. Zane Smith and AJ Allmendinger wrapped up the top five, while Chris Buescher, Ross Chastain, Riley Herbst, Ryan Blaney, and Michael McDowell finished in the top 10.

Reddick's lead over Denny Hamlin in the drivers' championship fell from 19 points to 8.

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Written by

Sabyasachi Biswas

Edited by

Yash Kotak