Grala Gains Experience in Martinsville Debut

Kaz Grala, driver of the No. 33 Allegiant Travel Chevrolet Silverado, brought home a 31st-place finish in Saturday’s Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville Speedway. Grala started the 250-lap event from the 19th position for his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) debut.

Grala reported to crew chief Jeff Stankiewicz that he was experiencing loose chassis conditions to start the event. When the first caution occurred on lap 42, Grala came to pit road, where the GMS Racing crew provided four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment to help tighten the loose-handling conditions and restarted in the 15th position. Grala made his way up to the 12th position but on lap 93, the heat radiating off the brakes caused the right front tire to go down, sending Grala into the wall. The No. 33 Allegiant Travel team was unable to make repairs that would enable Grala to rejoin the race resulting in a 31st-place finish.

 

KAZ GRALA QUOTE:

“I had a really fast Chevy this weekend. Unfortunately it didn’t end the way that we all wanted it to. I was battling a loose condition at the beginning of the race. Jeff (Stankiewicz, crew chief) made a great call with the wedge adjustment during the first stop, but not long after that the right front tire went down. This was a great opportunity to gain experience and I’m looking forward to working with the team again.”

GMS Racing PR