SAM HUNT RACING EARNS BEST DAY IN TEAM HISTORY AT ROAD AMERICA
Sage Karam finishes fourth in Toyota debut, Kaz Grala seventh
RICHMOND, Va. (July 29, 2023) – Sage Karam earned a career-best fourth-place finish in his Toyota and Sam Hunt Racing debut, while his teammate Kaz Grala brought his Toyota GR Supra home in seventh. Those results completed the best weekend in Sam Hunt Racing history as Karam and Grala put the team’s two Supras in the top-10 in qualifying before the duo ran every lap inside the top-10 of the 49-lap event.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Road America
Race 19 of 33 – 182.16 miles, 45 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Sam Mayer*
2nd, Parker Kligerman*
3rd, Austin Hill*
4th, SAGE KARAM
5th, Riley Herbst*
7th, KAZ GRALA
24th, STANTON BARRETT
25th, DEXTER STACEY
29th, CONNOR MOSACK
31st, SAMMY SMITH
34th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
SAGE KARAM, No. 24 Carousel Online Toyota GR Supra, Sam Hunt Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
Was it the speedy dry that got you there on the final laps?
“Yeah, unfortunately. I was the first one to the speedy dry, and right when I hit it, it was like hitting rain. I couldn’t do anything. But I can’t thank Sam Hunt Racing enough, Toyota. It has been an absolute pleasure to drive this No. 24 Carousel Online Toyota GR Supra. It’s been an absolute blast all weekend. The car has been so fast, as fast as Xfinity 10 G. It’s been an absolute pleasure, and I hope this leads to some more opportunities down the road. It’s really fun when you can battle up front with those guys. Those guys are really good here in the Xfinity Series – they are the best out there – and when you can be doing aggressive restarts like that with Justin (Allgaier) and Sam (Mayer) and have a shot at it is a really good feeling.”
What is the significance of running up front all day like you did today?
“I’ve made the decision that I want to be here full-time. This is what I’ve been trying to do, and I’ve been chasing the stock car dream now. This is my 20th race in Xfinity, getting the experience under my belt. I feel like when things go right, we can have good results – today everything went right, and the team gave me a great car. Our Toyota was great. It makes the driver’s job really easy when that’s all in the cards for us and I can go out there and focus on driving. We didn’t have to worry about pit stop, anything like that. It was all just focus forward and driving. That was pure race. That is what I love to do. Went for it – just speedy dry.”
KAZ GRALA, No. 26 Fire Department Coffee Toyota GR Supra, Sam Hunt Racing
Finishing Position: 7th
How was your race?
“Really solid day here for Sam Hunt Racing. We brought a couple of really good Supras and had a clean day. That is what we needed to do with the speed that we had. Stage points in every stage, top-10 finish. Really good points day for us compared to who we are racing, so thrilled with the outcome. Cool to send Fire Department Coffee off with a really good run with their last primary race scheduled with us this year. I think we had the speed to contend up front for the win. If we had a couple of restarts go our way, that didn’t go our way, we absolutely would have been in contention for the win there. Definitely proud of everybody. We’ve made some massive gains on our road course stuff here as a company, and excited that we’ve got three more on the schedule that we will be able to race for the win at, like we did today.”
SAM HUNT, team owner, Sam Hunt Racing
Can you talk about the weekend as a whole?
“It was an incredible weekend with one in the top-five and the other in the top-10. Earlier this year, we had our first double top-10, and now we have a top-five, top-10 combo. Really special day for us. I’m just excited to see the progress and the process that everybody is buying into. It is working. Kaz (Grala) and Sage (Karam) did a phenomenal job all weekend. We unloaded with speed, and we ran up front all day. I know the 24 guys have had some misfortune this year and I feel like they’ve done such a great job as a team. I’m just happy to see them get the result that they deserve, and the 26 guys too with a big points day. Just a really special one. We were so close to that first win. We are getting closer and closer. Just can’t thank everybody at Toyota, TRD, Fire Department Coffee, Carosuel Online for making this weekend happen. The future looks really good for us.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 45 million cars and trucks at our 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 24 electrified options.
