Big Machine Racing announced that Kaz Grala will be driving the No. 48 Big Machine SPIKED Coolers Chevrolet Camaro for the upcoming NASCAR Xfinity Series events at Talladega Superspeedway and at Dover Motor Speedway in late April.
Grala, a 23-year-old native from Boston, Massachusetts, will be filling in Big Machine Racing’s single-car entry in place of Jade Buford, the team’s lone competitor, as he becomes the third competitor to campaign in a single event for Big Machine Racing, which debuted in NASCAR as a full-time Xfinity team in 2021 before being technically aligned with Richard Childress Racing for this season.
Currently, Big Machine Racing has achieved two top-10 career results in the Xfinity circuit, which includes a ninth-place results at Michigan International Speedway in August 2021 and an eighth-place result at Circuit of the Americas this past March, both made by Buford.
“We’ve made a very serious commitment to the NASCAR Xfinity Series, including our strategic partnership with RCR,” Scott Borchetta, team owner of Big Machine Racing, said. “[At] this time we need to evaluate all aspects of the team as I am determined to run up front.”
The two-race deal with Big Machine Racing adds more seat time for Grala this season, who has made three Xfinity starts for Alpha Prime Racing. He is also campaigning on the part-time basis in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for Young’s Motorsports and in the NASCAR Cup Series for the newly-formed Money Team Racing.
Currently, Grala has made 81 career starts in NASCAR’s top three national touring series (Camping World Truck, Xfinity and Cup). He has achieved a single victory, which occurred during the 2017 Truck Series’ season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway from pole position while he was competing for GMS Racing as he became the youngest competitor to achieve a pole and race victory at Daytona.
Through 37 previous starts in the Xfinity Series, Grala has achieved four top-five results and nine top-10 results, with his best on-track result being a pair of fourth-place finishes at Daytona in February 2018 and at Road America in August 2020.
Grala is scheduled to make his first NASCAR Xfinity Series start with Big Machine Racing at Talladega Superspeedway on April 23 with the event’s coverage to occur at 4 p.m. ET on FOX. He will back it up with his second start with the team at Dover Motor Speedway on April 30 with the event’s coverage to occur at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
