Kaz Grala is a little late for the very strange party that is the 2020 NASCAR season.
The 21-year-old is set to make his first start to the Xfinity series season in Saturday’s race at Kansas Speedway (5 p.m. ET on NBCSN), the 17th race of the season. He will do so in Richard Childress Racing’s No. 21 Chevrolet, which Grala drove in five races last year. The last time he drove the car on Road America was in August.
Grala has not had a NASCAR start since then.
“I am definitely going to remove rust, not only because I haven’t run in a year, but I’ve only done a mile and a half in the past two years,” Grala said, referring to the March 2019 race in Texas. .
On top of that, this will be just Grala’s second race in Kansas. The first came in 2017 in the truck series.
“So I look back on my Kansas track notes, I have some information from my first time there,” Grala said this week at a Zoom media conference. “But my note-taking process has improved significantly in the past three years. I didn’t have as much writing as I would have liked to have it looking back. ”
Grala, who is set to make five starts this year, said he will also lean on comments he received from RCR Cup riders Tyler Reddick and Austin Dillon after competing on the track Thursday night.
“I feel like I’m going to be quite prepared with my knowledge of the track and everything I can be doing,” Grala said. “I have run many laps on the simulator, but when you fall third in the dirty air at turn 1 trying to keep it open for the first time … it will definitely be different in real life, then in theory with all the preparation.”
Grala will start third thanks to the random draw through owner points. It is his first start in the top five in 28 races at Xfinity.
Grala’s first start, of course, takes place in a COVID-19 world where NASCAR has no practice or qualification and has strict evaluation protocols.
“It is a big challenge and particularly being a driver who runs part time,” said Grala. “That is a great challenge for me. But I liked the idea of the format to be honest. If I was running full time, I think I would really enjoy it. But it certainly puts me at a disadvantage this weekend. But luckily these are long runs. They are not speed races. So I will have time to get comfortable there and get to where I need to be at the end of the race, but I am looking forward to seeing what it will be like this weekend.
“All the other drivers, for the most part, are now used to these COVID procedures and protocols and how the test works and what the weekend schedule is like. This will be my first time due to these procedures that I have not been able to attend any race since quarantine. Although I am one of the other drivers of the car, I still cannot go to the race when someone else drives the car. So I have no idea what the weekend will be like. I have received information here and there from the head of my team, from the other team members, but I can tell you that it will be strange to enter the track with something very different from what I am used to. “
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