Roulette Recap follows a randomly-selected NASCAR Xfinity Series driver throughout a race and recaps their efforts. The driver could face calamity on lap one or start from the rear and win the race – there is no telling ahead of time. With that, may the odds be ever in the driver’s favor.
Once again, Mother Nature had her way with NASCAR Xfinity practice and qualifying. Both sessions were rained out at Richmond Raceway early Saturday morning. With that, Kaz Grala would line up P21 for his fifth attempt at Richmond.
In his four previous attempts, the Sam Hunt Racing driver had scored two top 10s, both in 2020, and had an average finish of 15.5.
Stage 1
Coming to the green flag, Grala wished his team well and told them how much he loved this particular track.
Drivers immediately went three-wide causing Grala to get shuffled in the mix. However, by lap five, he had settled into P18 and was holding steady while quiet on the radio.
Because of the lack of track time heading into the race, a competition caution came on lap 36. At that time, Grala told his team he was loose in and tight in the center.
Crew chief Allen Hart brought his driver in for adjustments and Grala’s pit crew had the first of many awesome stops for the day. They got their driver back on track in P15 on lap 43.
Within two laps, Grala had worked his way to P12 and had a mirror full of Parker Kligerman. Spotter Chris Lambert told his driver, “Long way to go. Be smart!”
After getting a run off Turn 1 on lap 50, Grala rocketed into the top 10. Unfortunately in the closing laps of the opening stage, he lost the spots he gained and finished P12.
Stage 2
Under caution, he told Hart that his car was “noticeably better” and he wanted “a little more of that.”
Another solid stop for adjustments had the SHR driver restarting P11. Grala held the inside line through lap 85. Over the next twenty laps, Grala bounced between 12th and 13th but got encouragement from his spotter.
Lambert informed Grala that drivers were starting to work on the middle groove and Hart told him to “maintain pace” because “the guys up front are starting to fall off.”
Grala started laying down lap times that were equivalent to P2 while he began to battle lapped traffic.
With 17 laps left in the second stage, Grala locked into P10 once again. Lambert said, “Nothing more than you’re doing now. You’ve been the best car the last three to four laps, even in traffic.”
As the laps ticked by, Grala gained spots. He jumped to P9 with 11 to go, then one more lap and one more spot.
The green-white-checkered signifying the end of the second stage waved, and Grala was sitting P6 and had earned five points.
End of Stage Caution
Hart asked his driver how his car was handling. Grala sighed and said, “We were terrible…KIDDING! We’re very sporty!” He went on to ask for more of the previous changes to set them up for the final stage.
The pit crew that had been on fire in previous stops continued their hard work. Grala was eighth off pit road and the driver acknowledged the hard work saying, “Great job guys! You’ve been on it all day!”
Awaiting his turn to choose a lane, Grala said, “I’d rather give up a row to be in the inside lane.” This had been his sweet spot all day and he wanted to take advantage of the solid day they were having.
Hart informed Grala that the tires “looked great” and to keep it up.
Team owner, Sam Hunt jumped on the radio and said, “Kaz, you are the fastest on the long run, let’s not let ‘em ruin it on the short run.”
Lambert told his driver to settle in, find his rhythm and “get back to work.”
Stage 3
After giving up the row as he mentioned, Grala narrowly avoided a day-ending wreck as Riley Herbst and Klingerman got loose beside him. This incident propelled him to P8 and over the next 30 laps, he bounced around between P8 and P10.
With 37 to go, Hart confirmed to his driver sitting in P8 that they were “good to go” as long as the race stayed green.
Seven laps later, the caution waved. Grala could only respond, “Damn.”
A quick discussion about what he needed to run about 20 more laps and stay in contention led Hart to bring his driver in for fresh tires. Once again, the No. 26 pit crew delivered, getting Grala off pit road sixth.
Grala noted, “Those guys up front were really starting to back up there. There was going to be fun!”
The green flag waved with 22 to go and Grala sitting P6. But only two laps later, the caution was out again. Once again, the calamity was right by Grala. He snaked through and claimed P4.
Another caution came immediately as Brett Moffitt wrecked hard. Grala’s sarcastic banter continued as Hart told his driver to stay out.
Grala asked, “Are you sure?”
Hart responded, “Please. My heart couldn’t take it if you came in right now.”
Grala laughed and said he was having fun. Lambert agreed, and Grala exclaimed, “We should do this every Saturday!”
With six laps remaining, Grala was sitting P4 and lined up directly behind the leader.
As the green flag waved for the final time in the race, leaders John Hunter Nemechek and Chandler Smith were banging doors for the final laps. The eventual P3 finisher, Josh Berry was trying to put himself in position to take advantage of a potential wreck.
However, it was a clean finish and Grala brought his No. 26 Toyota Toyota home P4.
Final Words
Finishes like this are a big deal for the smaller teams and there was excitement all over the No. 26 radio during the cool-down lap. Lambert cheered, “Great work!”
Grala exclaimed, “Awesome job! You should be proud. What an encouragement for this season!”
Hart chimed in, “Awesome job everyone!”
Hunt even jumped on saying, “No quit in this team! Thank you!”
Sponsor Shoutout
As NASCAR fans know, sponsors make the sport go ’round. We want to give a shoutout to a few of those that were part of the weekend for Kaz Grala and the No. 26 team:
Toyota and Ruedebusch
Be sure to give Kaz Grala (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) and Sam Hunt Racing (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) a follow to keep up with the latest news from the driver and team.
