Kaz Grala

Kaz Grala
Grala at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2024
Born	Kaz Grala (1998-12-29) December 29, 1998 (age 25) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Achievements	Youngest driver to make the NASCAR playoffs (18) Youngest NASCAR race winner at Daytona International Speedway (18) Youngest NASCAR pole winner at Daytona International Speedway (18) Youngest driver to compete in an IMSA race (15) Youngest race winner in UARA-Stars (14)
NASCAR Cup Series career
16 races run over 4 years
Car no., team	No. 36 (Front Row Motorsports) No. 15 (Rick Ware Racing)
2022 position	53rd
Best finish	40th (2020)
First race	2020 Go Bowling 235 (Daytona RC)
Last race	2024 GEICO 500 (Talladega)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 2 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
77 races run over 6 years
Car no., team	No. 28 (RSS Racing)
2023 position	17th
Best finish	17th (2023)
First race	2018 PowerShares QQQ 300 (Daytona)
Last race	2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race (Phoenix)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 19 0
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
51 races run over 6 years
2023 position	96th
Best finish	7th (2017)
First race	2016 Alpha Energy Solutions 250 (Martinsville)
Last race	2023 CRC Brakleen 150 (Pocono)
First win	2017 NextEra Energy Resources 250 (Daytona)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 19 1
NASCAR Canada Series career
2 races run over 1 year
2016 position	41st
Best finish	41st (2016)
First race	2016 Clarington 200 (Mosport)
Last race	2016 Can-Am 200 (Mosport)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
ARCA Menards Series career
2 races run over 1 year
Best finish	48th (2017)
First race	2017 Lucas Oil 200 (Daytona)
Last race	2017 ModSpace 150 (Pocono)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 2 1
ARCA Menards Series East career
38 races run over 3 years
Best finish	7th (2014, 2015)
First race	2014 New Smyrna 150 presented by JEGS (New Smyrna)
Last race	2016 Bully Hill Vineyards 125 (Watkins Glen)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 24 0
ARCA Menards Series West career
2 races run over 1 year
Best finish	41st (2015)
First race	2015 Carneros 200 (Sonoma)
Last race	2015 Casino Arizona 100 (Phoenix)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
Statistics current as of April 14, 2024.

Kaz Grala (/ˈɡrɔːlə/ GRAW-lə;^[1] born December 29, 1998) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 36 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Front Row Motorsports and the No. 15 Mustang Dark Horse for Rick Ware Racing. He has also previously competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, NASCAR Pinty's Series as well as what is now the ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East and ARCA Menards Series West.

Grala is the youngest NASCAR winner in the history of Daytona International Speedway with his win in the 2017 Truck Series season-opener at age 18 and the youngest person to ever compete in an International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) event at age 15.

Racing career

Early career

Grala, a native of Boston, started racing go-karts at F1 Boston in Braintree, Massachusetts, when he was four years old. When he was ten,^[2] he began racing Bandoleros, winning the Summer Shootout Championship in 2011. That same year, he won the New York Legendstock and the Massachusetts Bandolero Outlaws state championships.^[1] In 2012, Grala won 15 races and the Winter Heat Championship at Charlotte^[3] in the Legend Car Pro Division.

In 2013, Grala made his late model debut in UARA-STARS, becoming the youngest winner in series history at Hickory Motor Speedway, followed by setting the record as the youngest driver to lead laps in the Myrtle Beach 400 where he finished second to Lee Pulliam. That same year, he was named by Speed 51 as the 2013 JEGS Rookie of the Year.^[4]

NASCAR

2014–2016

In 2014, Grala competed in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series and won at Caraway Speedway^[5] and Martinsville Speedway and also joined Turner Scott Motorsports to compete full-time in the K&N Pro Series East. He was the youngest driver in the series that year.^[6]

In 2015, he joined Ben Kennedy Racing to race full-time in the K&N Pro Series East once again.^[7]

In 2016, Grala made his NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series debut at Martinsville for GMS Racing, driving the No. 33 Chevrolet.^[8] Grala would get his first career top-ten finish at Dover International Speedway in just his second start in the series. With Ben Kennedy joining the team, Grala moved over to the No. 24 truck to compete in seven more races that year.

2017

Grala ran the full Truck Series season in 2017 for GMS in their No. 33 Chevrolet.^[9] After avoiding all the crashes at Daytona International Speedway, he won his first race in the series after starting on the pole, making him both the youngest driver to win a NASCAR pole at Daytona and the youngest driver to win a NASCAR race at Daytona (18 years, 1 month and 26 days). It was Grala's first win in NASCAR and essentially locked him into a spot in the Playoffs for the Truck Series in 2017.^[10][11] Grala almost won at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in September, after leading the closing laps and then in one of the final corners he was tapped and spun around by Austin Cindric. Grala was eliminated from the Playoffs before the Round of 6 due to an early crash in the cutoff race at Talladega Superspeedway, which ultimately resulted in him finishing the season 7th in the Truck Series standings.^[12]

2018–2022

On November 15, 2017, it was announced that Grala would join JGL Racing full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series as a 2018 Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender, driving the No. 24 Ford.^[13] Grala finished fourth in his debut at Daytona. However, on May 15, the team shut down the No. 24 program, leaving Grala without a ride.^[14] Three days later, Grala announced he would run the next four Xfinity races for Fury Race Cars, driving the No. 61 Mustang beginning at Charlotte Motor Speedway.^[15] Grala drove to an impressive 10th-place finish in FURY's debut as a team. With sponsorship support from IT Coalition, DMB Financial, Kiklos, and HotScream, Grala was able to add another eight races to his schedule beyond the original four. Grala's best finish with the organization was a top-five at Daytona International Speedway, which he achieved in a 10-year-old borrowed car slated to be retired as a show car.^[16] In 2019, Grala joined Richard Childress Racing's No. 21 Xfinity car for a part-time schedule.^[17] He was originally going to run part-time with FURY with the amassed sponsorship, but Grala took the sponsorship to RCR to lower costs.^[18] He stayed with the team for the 2020 season.^[19]

Grala's 2020 schedule began in July at Kansas, where he finished 13th.^[20][21] He ran the next race at Road America and tied his career-best fourth-place finish.^[22] In 2020, Grala joined Niece Motorsports for a one-off race at Talladega as a replacement for Natalie Decker.^[23] In August 2020, a week after his Xfinity start at Road America, Grala was called by RCR to substitute for Austin Dillon in their No. 3 NASCAR Cup Series car at the Daytona road course after Dillon tested positive for COVID-19.^[24] The Go Bowling 235 would see Grala finish seventh in his Cup debut.^[25]

Grala joined Kaulig Racing in 2021 for a multi-race schedule that included the Daytona 500, driving the No. 16.^[26] At the 2021 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona, he suffered a foot injury from one of the race's accidents.^[27] Grala returned to the Truck Series again in 2021, driving for Young's Motorsports at the Daytona Road Course in their No. 02, replacing Kris Wright, the full-time driver of that truck.^[28] He joined Jordan Anderson Racing in 2021 for the Xfinity Series races at Road America event and Texas Motor Speedway in .^[29]

On January 24, 2022, Alpha Prime Racing announced that Grala would drive for them in four races and be the team's reserve driver. On April 12, Big Machine Racing announced that he would drive for them at Talladega and Dover. Grala became The Money Team Racing's first official driver in the team's debut at the 2022 Daytona 500.^[30][31] On lap 40 of the race, he lost his right rear wheel and tire, but he finished the race in 26th place.^[32]On February 3, 2022, Young's Motorsports confirmed that Grala would return to the team to run 11 races in the team's No. 02 truck, sharing the ride with Jesse Little.^[33]

2023–present

On December 8, 2022, Sam Hunt Racing announced that Grala would compete full-time for them in 2023, driving the No. 26 Toyota GR Supra, with sponsorship to be announced at a later date.^[34]

On January 17, 2024, Rick Ware Racing announced that Grala will run 25 cup races for the team in 2024, driving the No. 15 Ford Mustang Dark Horse.^[35] A few days later, Front Row Motorsports announced that Grala would run the 2024 Daytona 500 in the No. 36 Ford Mustang.^[36] Grala finished 12th in his Bluegreen Vacations Duel, qualifying him for the Daytona 500. He ended up crashing on lap five of the Daytona 500, finishing 38th.^[37]

Other racing

In 2014, Grala ran in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, where he became the youngest driver ever to compete in an International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) event at the age of 15 years and one week old.^[3]

In 2016, Grala competed in his first Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona for Change Racing alongside former Rolex 24 winners Spencer Pumpelly and Justin Marks, in addition to race newcomer Corey Lewis; at the age of 17, Grala was the youngest driver in the field.^[2]

On July 2, 2022, Grala won the Trans-Am Series TA/GT race at Road America, driving the No. 2 Technique Chassis Steel-It Weaver Racing Dodge Challenger. This was only Grala's second start in the series and second consecutive pole and track record. In the previous race, at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Grala was leading when his car suffered a mechanical failure.^[38][39]

Personal life

Grala was born in Boston and grew up in the suburb of Westborough. Grala's father Darius is a former sports car racer, competing in the 24 Hours of Daytona three times.^[2] He is of Polish ancestry.

He attended high school at Worcester Academy, graduating in 2017.^[3] Grala has been accepted to Georgia Tech to major in engineering, but has deferred his admission to pursue his racing career.

Grala lives in Mooresville, North Carolina.^{[citation needed]}

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Cup Series

NASCAR Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	NCSC	Pts	Ref
2020	Richard Childress Racing	3	Chevy	DAY	LVS	CAL	PHO	DAR	DAR	CLT	CLT	BRI	ATL	MAR	HOM	TAL	POC	POC	IND	KEN	TEX	KAN	NHA	MCH	MCH	DRC 7	DOV	DOV	DAY	DAR	RCH	BRI	LVS	TAL	ROV	KAN	TEX	MAR	PHO	40th	01	[40]
2021	Kaulig Racing	16	Chevy	DAY 28	DRC	HOM	LVS	PHO	ATL	BRD	MAR	RCH	TAL 6	KAN	DAR	DOV	COA	CLT	SON	NSH	POC	POC	ROA	ATL	NHA	GLN	IRC	MCH	DAY 35	DAR	RCH	BRI	LVS	TAL	ROV	TEX	KAN	MAR	PHO	45th	02	[41]
2022	The Money Team Racing	50	Chevy	DAY 26	CAL	LVS	PHO	ATL	COA 25	RCH	MAR	BRD	TAL	DOV	DAR	KAN	CLT 23	GTW	SON	NSH	ROA	ATL	NHA	POC	IRC	MCH	RCH	GLN	DAY	DAR	KAN	BRI	TEX	TAL	ROV	LVS	HOM	MAR	PHO	53rd	01	[42]
2024	Front Row Motorsports	36	Ford	DAY 38																																				-*	-*	[43]
	Rick Ware Racing	15	Ford		ATL 14	LVS 31	PHO 30	BRI 19	COA 27	RCH 31	MAR 26	TEX 27	TAL	DOV	KAN	DAR	CLT	GTW	SON	IOW	NHA	NSH	CSC	POC	IND	RCH	MCH	DAY	DAR	ATL	GLN	BRI	KAN	TAL	ROV	LVS	HOM	MAR	PHO

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
2021	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	40	28
2022	The Money Team Racing	Chevrolet	35	26
2024	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	26	38

Xfinity Series

NASCAR Xfinity Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	NXSC	Pts	Ref
2018	JGL Racing	24	Ford	DAY 4	ATL 23	LVS 16	PHO 12	CAL 14	TEX 26	BRI 38	RCH 30	TAL 20	DOV 37																								22nd	439	[44]
	FURY Race Cars	61	Ford											CLT 10	POC 16	MCH 12	IOW 10	CHI 40	DAY 5	KEN	NHA 14	IOW	GLN 15	MOH 27	BRI	ROA 11	DAR	IND	LVS	RCH	ROV 8	DOV	KAN	TEX	PHO	HOM 18
2019	Richard Childress Racing	21	Chevy	DAY	ATL	LVS	PHO	CAL	TEX 18	BRI	RCH 14	TAL	DOV 14	CLT	POC	MCH	IOW	CHI	DAY	KEN	NHA 14	IOW	GLN	MOH	BRI	ROA 5	DAR	IND	LVS	RCH	ROV	DOV	KAN	TEX	PHO	HOM	37th	120	[45]
2020				DAY	LVS	CAL	PHO	DAR	CLT	BRI	ATL	HOM	HOM	TAL	POC	IRC	KEN	KEN	TEX	KAN 13	ROA 4	DRC	DOV	DOV	DAY	DAR	RCH 9	RCH 9	BRI	LVS	TAL	ROV 31	KAN	TEX	MAR	PHO	33rd	147	[46]
2021	Jordan Anderson Racing	31	Chevy	DAY	DRC	HOM	LVS	PHO	ATL	MAR	TAL	DAR	DOV	COA	CLT	MOH	TEX	NSH	POC	ROA 18	ATL	NHA	GLN	IRC	MCH	DAY	DAR	RCH	BRI	LVS	TAL	ROV	TEX 15	KAN	MAR	PHO	92nd	01	[47]
2022	Alpha Prime Racing	45	Chevy	DAY	CAL 25	LVS 23	PHO 33	ATL	COA	RCH	MAR																										83rd	01	[48]
	Big Machine Racing	48	Chevy									TAL 29	DOV 24	DAR	TEX	CLT	POR	NSH	ROA	ATL	NHA	POC	IRC 32	MCH 18	GLN 5	DAY	DAR	KAN	BRI	TEX	TAL
	Jesse Iwuji Motorsports	34	Chevy																													ROV 35	LVS	HOM	MAR
	Sam Hunt Racing	26	Toyota																																	PHO 23
2023				DAY 32	CAL 13	LVS 23	PHO 34	ATL 35	COA 18	RCH 4	MAR 15	TAL 24	DOV 12	DAR 9	CLT 16	PIR 26	SON 20	NSH 16	CSC 10	ATL 14	NHA 13	POC 25	ROA 7	MCH 21	IRC 9	GLN 28	DAY 20	DAR 28	KAN 10	BRI 10	TEX 29	ROV 5	LVS 35	HOM 30	MAR 28	PHO 10	17th	617	[49]
2024	RSS Racing	28	Ford	DAY	ATL	LVS	PHO	COA DNQ	RCH	MAR	TEX	TAL	DOV	DAR	CLT	PIR	SON	IOW	NHA	NSH	CSC	POC	IND	MCH	DAY	DAR	ATL	GLN	BRI	KAN	TAL	ROV	LVS	HOM	MAR	PHO	-*	-*	[50]

Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	NCTC	Pts	Ref
2016	GMS Racing	33	Chevy	DAY	ATL	MAR 31	KAN	DOV 10	CLT	TEX																	28th	132	[51]
		24									IOW 29	GTW 8	KEN	ELD	POC	BRI 11	MCH	MSP 26	CHI	NHA 7	LVS	TAL	MAR 15	TEX	PHO 28	HOM
2017		33		DAY 1	ATL 15	MAR 15	KAN 8	CLT 30	DOV 2	TEX 10	GTW 13	IOW 24	KEN 24	ELD 31	POC 23	MCH 12	BRI 28	MSP 3	CHI 9	NHA 10	LVS 5	TAL 29	MAR 7	TEX 6	PHO 5	HOM 13	7th	2214	[52]
2020	Niece Motorsports	44	Chevy	DAY	LVS	CLT	ATL	HOM	POC	KEN	TEX	KAN	KAN	MCH	DRC	DOV	GTW	DAR	RCH	BRI	LVS	TAL 9	KAN	TEX	MAR	PHO	84th	01	[53]
2021	Young's Motorsports	02	Chevy	DAY	DRC 8	LVS	ATL	BRD	RCH	KAN	DAR	COA 2	CLT	TEX	NSH	POC	KNX	GLN 12	GTW	DAR	BRI	LVS	TAL	MAR	PHO		41st	742	[54]
2022				DAY	LVS 30	ATL	COA 14	MAR	BRD 26	DAR	KAN	TEX	CLT	GTW	SON 14	KNX 26	NSH	MOH 7	POC 23	IRP 20	RCH 22	KAN 18	BRI	TAL 18	HOM 18	PHO	26th	221	[55]
2023	Tricon Garage	1	Toyota	DAY	LVS 17	ATL	COA 9	TEX	BRD	MAR	KAN	DAR	NWS	CLT	GTW	NSH	MOH	POC 31	RCH	IRP	MLW	KAN	BRI	TAL	HOM	PHO	96th	01	[56]

^* Season still in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points
² Switched from Cup to Truck points on May 4^[57]

K&N Pro Series East

NASCAR K&N Pro Series East results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	NKNPSEC	Pts	Ref
2014	Turner Scott Motorsports	31	Chevy	NSM 10	DAY 10	BRI 20	GRE 7	RCH 14	IOW 22	BGS 11	FIF 16	LGY 5	NHA 10	COL 8	IOW 8	GLN 4	VIR 5	GRE 11	DOV 2	7th	542	[58]
2015	Ben Kennedy Racing	3	Toyota	NSM 18	GRE 6	BRI 4	IOW 17	BGS 7	LGY 17	COL 3	NHA 3	IOW 7	GLN 15	MOT 7	VIR 2	RCH 8	DOV 19			7th	483	[59]
2016				NSM 15	MOB 5	GRE 9	BRI 3	VIR 20	DOM 4	STA	COL	NHA 21	IOW	GLN 4	GRE	NJM	DOV			16th	272	[60]

K&N Pro Series West

NASCAR K&N Pro Series West results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	NKNPSWC	Pts	Ref
2015	Ben Kennedy Racing	3	Toyota	KCR	IRW	TUS	IOW	SHA	SON 17	SLS	IOW	EVG	CNS	MER	AAS	PHO 30	41st	41	[61]

Pinty's Series

NASCAR Pinty's Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	NPSC	Pts	Ref
2016	22 Racing	22	Dodge	MSP 20	SSS	ACD	ICAR	TOR	EIR	SAS	CTR	RIS	MSP 15	ASE	KWA	41st	53	[62]

ARCA Racing Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Racing Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	ARSC	Pts	Ref
2017	Mason Mitchell Motorsports	88	Chevy	DAY 10	NSH	SLM	TAL	TOL	ELK	POC	MCH	MAD	IOW	IRP										48th	405	[63]
	MDM Motorsports	41	Chevy												POC 4	WIN	ISF	ROA	DSF	SLM	CHI	KEN	KAN

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

(key)

24 Hours of Daytona

24 Hours of Daytona results
Year	Class	No	Team	Car	Co-drivers	Laps	Position	Class Pos.
2016	GTD	16	Change Racing	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	Spencer Pumpelly Justin Marks Corey Lewis	521	42	18

References

External links