“That was a brutal day. I’m sitting in Austin Dillon’s seat, in his interior, it’s not fitted to me,” Grala said. “It’s just kind of makeshift, fudged a little bit just enough for me to get in there. But Austin and I are not quite the same size. He’s a little bit shorter than me, a little bit skinnier than me, so I wasn’t exactly comfortable in that car fitment-wise, and then it’s my first time driving a Cup car.
“That was absolutely a brutal day. But I think I was kind of saved by the lightning delay,” Grala continued. “We had a 30-minute lightning delay just after stage two. It was really brief but gave me a chance to get out of the car, get some water, deep breaths and look at SMT data. That was the most important part.”
After debriefing with his team, the No. 3 crew was more than pleased with Grala’s effort. Slotting around 20th position, Grala was right where the RCR team felt would be a successful afternoon.
However, that boost of confidence gave Grala the green light.
“That kind of gave me the confidence of, ‘All right, I’ve done what they wanted me to do.’ It’s been a good day so far. I feel like the monkey’s off my back as far as, ‘Well, can he do this?’
“I looked at the data, looked at what the faster guys were doing, compared to myself, picked up a couple of tips and then went back out there and kind of drove care-free,” Grala said.
Grala overcame the grueling demands to score an unprecedented top-10 finish in his Cup Series debut.
“I pushed as hard as I could and figured a few things out and was able to drive up to seventh,” Grala said. “I think I restarted 11th on a green-white-checkered and when we got back under green, I could feel my arms cramping, my hamstrings cramping, my calves cramping, I was just completely spent and drained in that race.
“I just fought through the cramps I was like, ‘I am not going to lose this decent finish here because I’m cramping up.’ So, I just pushed through it anyway, picked off four more cars and ended up finishing seventh.”
Grala used his opportunity to propel his stock and create an unforgettable moment.
“I can definitely say that was the biggest day in my career,” Grala beamed. “Probably the most memorable race ever. I’m not sure if much can top that being my Cup debut in the RCR No. 3 car and having a good day. That’s going to stick out forever.”
Proving he belonged was never an issue for Grala. What it came down to was finding a healthy dose of sponsorship to fund his racing efforts.
After a handful of Cup, Xfinity and Truck Series starts spanning the following two seasons, Grala finally found the missing element.
For this season, the 24-year-old racer secured a full-time Xfinity Series ride behind the wheel of the No. 26 Toyota Supra for Sam Hunt Racing. It is his first full-time ride in six seasons.
“For me, it really was the sponsorship that was the last piece to the puzzle that stood between me and getting a full-time ride, and I finally was able to lock that down,” Grala said.
Though the first three races of the season were a struggle, with a best finish of 13th at Auto Club Speedway, Grala is a firm believer that SHR is on the path to success.
“I personally think that I’m in the right place at the right time this year. I guess we’ll see how the season goes. That’ll be the fun part,” Grala said. “What Sam Hunt Racing has going on over there, the way they’ve been able to grow and improve in the last couple of years, it’s been a pretty fast trajectory for them.
“They had a lot of speed and success last year, even with a rotating cast of drivers, which is hard on a team. I’ve been a part-time driver for years now. It’s not easy and that was the situation they were in on the team’s end as well last year.
“I think having a little bit of consistency this year will be good for the team and good for me,” Grala continued. “There’s also everything Toyota has put in on the engineering side to support the team, and the training and support for me as a driver and the comprehensive program they use to prepare drivers Monday through Friday, to make sure we’re the best and most prepared we can be when we get to the race track.
“From all sides, I feel like things are jelling, working and coming together right now for myself and the team.”
This story appeared in the March 22, 2023 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
