Sports
Worcester Student, Racer Emerges As Youngest NASCAR Winner
This Worcester Academy student won the NASCAR truck competition.
WORCESTER, MA — Boston native Kaz Grala, who is a senior at Worcester Academy, at 18 years old became the youngest winner in a NASCAR national series ever, taking the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in Daytona on Friday night.
The rookie is considered lucky to have won since he spun several times, and flipped, reports CBS News. Grala pulled ahead of leader Matt Crafton in the 100-lap race to win.
Kaz Grala avoids last-lap melee to become youngest Daytona winner https://t.co/nCP3uJdd5m #NASCAR #PolePosition
— NASCAR Pole Position (@NPPmag) February 25, 2017
With several media outlets calling it a "wild wreck," Grala slipped through a "melee of trucks" that bounced off each other to win. AutoWeek shares a video of the race here.
"I didn't know what I was doing out there," he told USA Today. "I didn't know how to do a doughnut. I'm Polish so I figured I could drive backward." Of the 32 trucks, 13 finished the lead lap.
.@KazGrala Talks With @POPULARSPEED About Wild @DISupdates Win - https://t.co/L2vZuBXjzY#NASCAR #NCWTS @NASCAR_Trucks @GMSRacingLLC pic.twitter.com/QmL4pb9K3z
— John Haverlin (@The5thJohnHav) February 25, 2017
Photo Credit: Camping World Truck Series races the Good Sam Roadside Assistance 200 at Rockingham Speedway on April 15, 2012, Wikimedia Commons
