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DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEBRUARY 24: Kaz Grala, driver of the #33 KiklosGreekExtraVirginOliveOil Chevrolet, celebrates in Victory Lane by putting a winner’s sticker on his truck during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway on February 24, 2017 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images)
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DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEBRUARY 24: Kaz Grala, driver of the #33 KiklosGreekExtraVirginOliveOil Chevrolet, celebrates in Victory Lane by putting a winner’s sticker on his truck during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway on February 24, 2017 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images)
When the NASCAR Cup series kicks off, the 63rd annual Daytona 500 will have a new face. The Kaulig Racing team will field Kaz Grala for the iconic race to kick off the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.
The outfit is participating in the Cup Series on a part-time basis and recruited Grala for the season opener. Aside from that, the 22-year-old will also participate in a handful of road course and superspeedway events for Kaulig Racing.
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AVONDALE, AZ – MARCH 09: Kaz Grala, driver of the #24 NETTTS Ford, sits in his car during practice for the NASCAR Xfinity Series DC Solar 200 at ISM Raceway on March 9, 2018 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)
“This is a huge opportunity for me both personally and professionally,” said Grala.
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“I’ve grown up dreaming of reaching the NASCAR Cup Series, so it will be really special to get more chances to race against my heroes, with Kaulig Racing being the perfect team to take that next step with. I can’t thank Matt Kaulig and Chris Rice enough for trusting me in their Cup program, as well as RCR for helping shape my career the past couple seasons.”
“I have already worked with many of the Kaulig team members before, so hopefully that will help us hit the ground running next month. Bring on the DAYTONA 500!”
🚨 Presenting the driver of the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Camaro ZL1 1LE for the 63rd annual @DAYTONA 500!! 🚨#NASCAR | #CupSeries | #Daytona500 pic.twitter.com/OIZIzGGnap
— Kaulig Racing (@KauligRacing) January 13, 2021
Grala made a solitary Cup Series attempt in 2020 at Daytona in place of a COVID-19-affected Austin Dillon. Over there, he put in a respectable performance to finish seventh. Owing to this, he is one of two drivers to record a top-10 finish in all three of NASCAR’s National Series in 2020.
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Kaulig Racing, which announced last week it would run select Cup races in 2021, confirmed it has agreed to purchase the RCR building that Germain Racing used. Will give Kaulig additional space (it already has one building at RCR) as it eyes potential full 2022 Cup effort. #nascar
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) January 13, 2021
Grala is looking forward to his Daytona 500 run in NASCAR Cup Series
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The driver has a fairly impressive Xfinity career, notching up nine top-10 and four top-five finishes. This included a top-five finish during his Xfinity debut at the Daytona International Speedway. In addition to that, he has proven that he is adept at superspeedways. This is because he finished in the top-five in two out of three superspeedway races.
Safe to say, the Kaulig Racing team is immensely excited to have him on board in 2021. Team president Chris Rice acknowledged that Grala has enjoyed some success in his career and is quite good at Daytona. Thus, they firmly believe that he is a good choice to race for them in 2021.
