FORT WORTH, Tex. – Kaz Grala hasn’t been this excited since winning his first career NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series (NGOTS) race at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in 2017.
This weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, Grala will make the first of select starts for Richard Childress Racing aboard the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro and while his exact schedule is still an ongoing process, Grala says a good run at Texas this weekend will only accelerate his deal further.
“It is a stacked field. I would say with RCR, a top-five would be a good goal,” said Grala. “It’s not going to be easy task. With that being with them, my first race with the crew chief, spotter, etc. Top-five is a lofty goal, but that’s what we are shooting for. We’ll see how close we can get to that.”
Grala hasn’t been on the track since Homestead-Miami last November driving for Fury Race Cars. And while the lack of track time may be a setback to some, for Grala, he’s embraced the downtime to get acquainted with his No. 21 team and prepare for his 23rd career series start.
And while there are more questions than answers for Grala’s debut, the goals have been set high for Saturday afternoon. While a top-five run would be a satisfying effort, Grala isn’t ruling out the chance of perhaps celebrating the weekend with a trip to Victory Lane.
After all, Grala is known for making spectacles. At Daytona two years ago, Grala was running outside the top-five but when chaos erupted on the backstretch – Grala cleared the smoke with the race lead and win.
“I’d say top-five but hey if we find ourselves in position at the end of the race, we’ll be going for the checkered flag too. We’re just out here to race for the win like everybody else.”
While Grala is hesitant on when his next NASCAR Xfinity Series race will be, the Boston, Mach. native believes it will be sooner than later.
“I’d expect to see the No. 21 car back within the next few weeks,” he said. “Not exactly, cause we’re working on adding them as much as we can – sponsorship wise.”
But Grala insisted that a good effort in the My Bariatric Solutions 300 could put him on the track sooner.
“We go out there and have a good weekend at Texas and you never know what that could do for us,” he added.
No matter the case this weekend, 20-year-old Grala plans to lean on his RCR teammate Tyler Reddick who has been extremely fast this year driving the No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro.
“It’s been great,” Grala says of working with Reddick. “We’ve known each other for a few years, but we’ve never really been like this where we’re teammates or with the same manufacturer, we’ve definitely gotten closer over the last month or so. It’s been great getting to know him better.
“He’s had so much speed and he’s either led laps or contended for the win at every race so far, it’ll be great getting to lean on him for my races at RCR this year.”
In 22 career Xfinity Series races, Grala has a career-best finish of fourth in the 2018 season-opener at Daytona International Speedway for the now defunct JGL Racing.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
