NASCAR team's primary driver returning for Darlington race

Kaz Grala signed a 25-race deal to compete for Rick Ware Racing throughout the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. After competing for Front Row Motorsports in the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, he competed in the next eight races for Rick Ware's team behind the wheel of the No. 15 Ford.

Cody Ware, who was suspended last April and reinstated over the offseason, then made his first Cup Series start in over a year at Talladega Superspeedway before Grala returned at Dover Motor Speedway.

This past Sunday, Riley Herbst, who competed for Rick Ware Racing in the Daytona 500, returned at Kansas Speedway. Now Grala is set to return for this Sunday's race at Darlington Raceway.

Kaz Grala set for 10th Rick Ware Racing start

With Sunday's 293-lap race around the four-turn, 1.366-mile (2.198-kilometer) egg-shaped oval in Darlington, South Carolina marking Grala's 10th start with Rick Ware Racing this season, he is expected to compete in 15 more races throughout the rest of the year. However, the locations have only been confirmed for three of them thus far.

Grala is set to compete at Iowa Speedway on Sunday, June 16, New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday, June 23, and Watkins Glen International on Sunday, September 15.

Ware's remaining schedule has not yet been announced, and Herbst does not currently have any more Cup Series starts confirmed on his calendar, so until mid-June, the No. 15 Ford does not have a confirmed driver. It is expected that, given Grala's 25-race deal, he will drive the car in the majority of the races between now and then.

Grala's best finish of the season is a 14th place effort, which he recorded in his Rick Ware Racing debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February.

The No. 15 team sits in 35th place in the owner standings out of 36 charter teams, ahead of only the No. 71 Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet) team. Rick Ware Racing's other team is the No. 51 team, which sits in 33rd. Justin Haley is the full-time driver of the No. 51 Ford.

Tune in to Fox Sports 1 at 3:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, May 12 for the live broadcast of the Goodyear 400 from Darlington Raceway. If you have not yet started a free trial of FuboTV, do so today and don't miss it!