NASCAR: Kaulig Racing name Daytona 500 driver for 2021
By Asher Fair
Kaulig Racing have announced that Kaz Grala is set to attempt to qualify for the team in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500.
Kaulig Racing have competed full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series since 2016, and last year, they finally made the step up to the Cup Series for the first time by competing in the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.
The Matt Kaulig-owned team fielded the #16 Chevrolet for Justin Haley, who had won the previous race at the track in July of 2019 driving for Spire Motorsports.
Haley was forced to qualify the non-chartered entry just to be a part of the 40-car field and successfully did so, and he ended up finishing the race in 13th place.
Kaulig Racing haven’t competed in the Cup Series since then, but they are set to change that in 2021.
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The team recently announced that they are aiming to run a part-time schedule in the 2021 season that features at least the four superspeedways and the seven road courses on the schedule. But they had not yet announced any of their drivers.
Now they have announced their first driver for the 2021 season, and that driver is set to be Kaz Grala. Grala is set to attempt to qualify for the 63rd annual Daytona 500 behind the wheel of the unchartered #16 Chevrolet to open up the season, the team confirmed Wednesday afternoon.
https://twitter.com/KauligRacing/status/1349415945421402112
The 22-year-old Boston, Massachusetts native is also set to compete in additional races for the team this season, although none of those races have been confirmed thus far.
Grala also made his Cup Series debut in 2020, and he competed in only one race, just like Kaulig Racing. That race also happened to be at Daytona International Speedway. He filled in for Austin Dillon behind the wheel of the #3 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing after Dillon tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the race at the track’s interior road course.
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Single-car qualifying for the 63rd annual Daytona 500 is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, February 10, and the Bluegreen Vacations Duels are slated to officially set the 40-car field for that race on Thursday, February 11. The race itself is scheduled to take place on Sunday, February 14, and it is set to be broadcast live on Fox beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET.