Kaz Grala of Rick Ware Racing gets in his car before the Nascar Cup Series Autotrader EchoPark ... [+]
Kaz Grala spent years bouncing from team to team in Nascar, hoping to find something that sticks to prove he’s capable of being a top-tier driver.
Time and again, Grala showed promise with smaller, underfunded and often, startup, organizations. He jumped to the Nascar Cup Series in 2024 with Rick Ware Racing, competing in 25 races and the Daytona 500 with Front Row Motorsports in a non-chartered entry.
The 25-year-old is having a respectable first half of the season in his rookie campaign, earning three top 20s for a team that previously ran at the rear of the field. His 26.3 average finish isn’t far behind teammate Justin Haley, whose average result is 23.5 in his fourth Cup season and has shined over the last month.
“We’ve been off to a good start this year and I feel like I have gotten up to speed pretty well in the Next Gen car,” Grala said. “We’ve been quietly good at finding our footing each time, and I’m looking forward to the second half of the year when we go back to some of these tracks for the second time with this team. That’s where we’re really going to be able to shine.”
Rick Ware Racing made a significant investment to improve its program this year. A partnership with Ford and RFK Racing has proven to be vital as the small team attempts to move up on the pylon.
Grala is taking advantage of the opportunity.
“We’re very much on the new end of this Ford relationship,” he said. “Rick Ware Racing is in its infancy with manufacturer support. By no means do we get everything, but it is growing slowly but surely. We are running well and proving to be legitimate competitors in the Cup Series, which is a hard thing to do. That’s helping the relationship [with Ford] and establishing the credibility we need to take the next step.”
Not only did Grala make the transition from full time in the Xfinity Series for Sam Hunt Racing to the Cup Series, which has a steeper competition level, but he’s also had to adjust to the Next Gen car.
“It’s a completely different animal than an Xfinity car,” Grala said. “When you take that jump, you’re not just having to raise your level of performance because of the competition, but you have to wrap your head around this new vehicle. It races differently and drives differently, what you’re looking for from a feel perspective is different.
“It’s a pretty big learning curve and the sooner you can get it out of the way, the better. The more serious of a candidate you will be for future Cup rides if you are somebody who knows the car. It puts you ahead of that crop of drivers in the Xfinity Series.”
With the mid-pack consistency, Grala has shown an ability to finish races and not wreck cars. Mistakes that other rookies have made and are currently making are not ones you will see out of the driver in the No. 15 car.
For the first half of the year, N29 Capital Partners has served as his primary sponsor. Come this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Meat N’ Bone will take over as Grala’s primary sponsor for the majority of the Nascar Cup Series season.
“The Meat N’ Bone folks have been out to a couple of races this year and they’re beyond excited about coming into this sport,” Grala said.
With a wild silly season beginning to form, Grala is putting his name in conversations he wouldn’t have been mentioned in until now. His decision to go Cup racing instead of competing in the Xfinity Series for another season means he may stick around the Cup Series for another season.
“I’ll treat it just as my whole career, which has mostly been out of necessity,” Grala said. “I’ll take any opportunity I get, make the most of it and I’ll run with it and be ready for the next. For me, if that’s here at Rick Ware Racing for years to come, I’d be thrilled, especially with the trajectory the team is on. Those conversations are just in the works now about next year. With Stewart-Haas shutting down, the whole Cup Series garage is scrambling, both drivers and team members. There’s not a whole lot of commitments out there right now because everyone is waiting to see where the dominoes fall.”
There are a number of open seats for next season, including the same Front Row Motorsports team he competed with in the Daytona 500.
“I would love to have that conversation with them [FRM] and those thoughts have certainly been out there already,” Grala said. “There’s nothing in stone anywhere, but I’m happy to talk to anyone and everyone. In my position, that’s what you have to do. My focus has been all year to go out and perform on the racetrack. There are a lot of factors involved in figuring out where you’re going to be year-to-year that are frankly outside of your control and outside of the racecar.
“I have to focus on doing my job and getting the most out of it because that helps everything else. If we have a weekend or two where we really shine and make a statement, I’m sure there will be plenty of conversations internally and externally about next year.”
This weekend, Grala makes his Cup Series debut at his home track, New Hampshire Motor Speedway. In three Xfinity Series starts at the one-mile oval, he has a best finish of 13th. The USA Today 301 can be seen on June 23 at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA.
