Michigan

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Report

Saturday, August 6, 2022

Race 21 of 33 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series

Location: Michigan International Speedway - 2 mile oval

Format: 125 laps - 250 miles

Kaz Grala’s Finish: 18th

Brooklyn, Michigan (August 6, 2022) - The New Holland 250 at the Michigan International Speedway, hosted a race with long green flag runs. Saturday’s race saw 4 cautions total for just 19 laps with stage breaks at lap 30 and lap 60. With weather in the area, the first challenge of the weekend was getting the No. 48 Spiked Coolers Chevrolet of Kaz Grala through the tech inspection process on Friday. The Big Machine Racing team passed tech with no issue on the first attempt, setting us up for practice and qualifying first thing Saturday morning.

Race day began at 9am ET with the NASCAR Xfinity Series cars taking to NASCAR’s fastest track for practice. Grala posted a 20th fastest lap time in practice and 23rd fastest in qualifying with a lap time of 38.780s. Track conditions changed considerably from the 9am ET practice to the 3:30pm ET race with temperatures starting at 74 degrees and up to the mid 80s by the start of the race.

Grala fought his way through the field of cars and managed to work his way up to a 7th place finish at the end of Stage 2. A caution-free race from lap 68 until the finish at lap 125 meant teams had to navigate their strategy of green flag stops. Grala ended the day with an 18th place finish.

Results:
Qualifying - p23
Stage 1 - p21
Stage 2 - p7
Final - p18