For the first time since 2017, Kaz Grala will make substantial NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts. On Thursday, Young’s Motorsports announced Grala will share the #02 Chevrolet Silverado RST with Jesse Little. Little will run twelve races while Grala has eleven.
The 2022 season will begin with Little running the season opener at Daytona International Speedway on 18 February. From there, he will race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, Darlington Raceway, both Kansas Speedway races, Texas Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway, Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, Kansas Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, and Phoenix Raceway.
Grala’s schedule kicks off at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on 4 March. He will then be in the #02 at Circuit of the Americas, Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt, World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, Sonoma Raceway, Knoxville Raceway, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Pocono Raceway, Richmond Raceway, Talladega Superspeedway, and Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Notably, Grala will be running every road course race and both dirt rounds. While he has no NASCAR dirt starts, he has proven himself to be a capable road racer: he finished seventh in his Cup Series début on the Daytona Road Course in 2020 as a substitute driver, while his best Xfinity Series finish is fourth at Road America that year. All three of his Truck starts in 2021, in Young’s #02, were as a road ringer while regular driver Kris Wright was running the Xfinity road courses. He finished runner-up to Todd Gilliland at COTA.
With Wright moving to Niece Motorsports for 2022, Young’s added Little and Grala to take his spot. Little moves to Young’s after spending the past two seasons in the Xfinity Series.
The eleven starts will be Grala’s most in a Truck season since running the full 2017 season for GMS Racing. He won his lone national series race to date in the opener at Daytona and finished seventh in points.
“I’m so grateful to be returning to Young’s Motorsports with an even busier schedule for 2022,” said Grala. “I will be racing at some of my favorite tracks throughout the season and will have even more chances to prove myself than I’ve had in years, starting at Las Vegas.
“Even though it was just a few races last year, Young’s Motorsports was one of the best teams to work with that I’ve ever been a part of, and I feel like our results reflected that. I can’t thank Tyler (Young, team principal) and the Young family enough for believing in me.”
Grala is in for a busy 2022. In addition to his Truck starts, he will be attempting the Daytona 500 for newly formed The Money Team Racing while also running four Xfinity dates and being a reserve driver for Alpha Prime Racing.
“We are beyond stoked to welcome back Kaz Grala to Young’s Motorsports this season,” stated Young. “Even with his limited starts and track time with our team last year, he was able to climb into the truck and make the most of each opportunity, nearly putting us in Victory Lane at Circuit of the Americas.
“With an opportunity to increase his schedule this year and pair him with a talented driver like Jesse Little, I feel like everyone involved will have a chance to shine.”
Young’s #02 driver schedule
# | Track | Date | Driver |
1 | Daytona International Speedway | 18 February | Jesse Little |
2 | Las Vegas Motor Speedway | 4 March | Kaz Grala |
3 | Atlanta Motor Speedway | 19 March | Jesse Little |
4 | Circuit of the Americas | 26 March | Kaz Grala |
5 | Martinsville Speedway | 7 April | Jesse Little |
6 | Bristol Motor Speedway (Dirt) | 16 April | Kaz Grala |
7 | Darlington Raceway | 6 May | Jesse Little |
8 | Kansas Speedway | 14 May | Jesse Little |
9 | Texas Motor Speedway | 20 May | Jesse Little |
10 | Charlotte Motor Speedway | 27 May | Jesse Little |
11 | World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway | 4 June | Kaz Grala |
12 | Sonoma Raceway | 11 June | Kaz Grala |
13 | Knoxville Raceway | 18 June | Kaz Grala |
14 | Nashville Superspeedway | 24 June | Jesse Little |
15 | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | 9 July | Kaz Grala |
16 | Pocono Raceway | 23 July | Kaz Grala |
17 | Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park | 29 July | Jesse Little |
18 | Richmond Raceway | 13 August | Kaz Grala |
19 | Kansas Speedway | 9 September | Jesse Little |
20 | Bristol Motor Speedway | 15 September | Jesse Little |
21 | Talladega Superspeedway | 1 October | Kaz Grala |
22 | Homestead-Miami Speedway | 22 October | Kaz Grala |
23 | Phoenix Raceway | 4 November | Jesse Little |