K&N Pro Series

KAZ GRALA

At 4 years old, Grala got his first kart – a CRG Bambino with a 50cc Comer engine, which he raced at the F1-Outdoors road course in Massachusetts.

At 7 he started racing year-round at F1-Boston, a multi-track indoor road racing facility also in Massachusetts. He accumulated over 100 wins and 2 championships.

At 10 he started racing Bandolero cars in Charlotte NC. This was his introduction to oval racing. He won multiple championships (oval and road course) including the most prestigious Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

At 12 Grala moved up to Legend cars. In 2012 alone, he won 15 of 58 races. Those wins came at 7 different race tracks, both ovals and road courses. He ended his Legends career by winning the Winter Heat Championship at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the highest and age-unlimited Pro Division.

Grala kicked off 2013 as the youngest NASCAR driver ever to compete at Daytona International Speedway. At 14 years and 51 days old he started his first ever race in a Late Model stock car at the inaugural Battle at the Beach. On June 22, 2013 Grala won his first Late Model race at Hickory Motor Speedway – becoming the youngest winner in UARA series history.

With 2014 hardly started, Grala is already in the news again. During the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway, and at only 15 years and 26 days old, he became the youngest driver ever to compete in an IMSA/Grand-Am sanctioned event. He not only competed in, but finished 4th out of 68 cars in the CTSC BMW Performance 200 – and in his stint, set the fastest lap of the race. For the remainder of the 2014 season he will be competing full time in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East with Turner Scott Motorsports. He will be running for not only Rookie of the Year honors but also for the series championship in the #31 Chevy Impala.

Truck Series

BEN KENNEDY

Many drivers claim to have racing in their blood, but for 22-year-old Ben Kennedy, driver of the No. 31 Chevrolet Silverado for Turner Scott Motorsports, it couldn’t be more true. The great grandson of NASCAR founder and racing visionary William France Sr., Kennedy’s roots go back three generations to the very heart of the sport.

Beginning his racing career in quarter-midgets in 2006, the young racer later graduated to full-sized stock trucks with crate engines in 2008. Racing on the short tracks of central Florida, Kennedy went on to win Pro-Truck championship titles at both Orlando Speedworld and New Smyrna Speedway in 2009. He followed up his two-championship season by winning the Super Late Model championship at Orlando Speedworld and Rookie of the Year honors in the Bright House Challenge Series in 2010. Kennedy made his touring series debut in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (NKNPSE) in 2010 before entering the series full time in 2011.

In 2012, Kennedy made history when he competed in the first NASCAR-sanctioned Euro Racecar Series event, winning the event at Tours Speedway, the first NASCAR race held on an oval in Europe. Kennedy experienced his most successful NKNPSE season to date in 2013, finishing fourth in the Driver Point Standings on the strength of two wins, one pole, three top fives and nine top 10s in addition to being crowned as the series’ Most Popular Driver. He was also named by FoxSports.com as one of the drivers under 25 to watch and was selected for the NASCAR Next program in 2013, an initiative to spotlight the sport’s up-and-coming stars.

Kennedy made his Turner Scott Motorsports debut in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) at Bristol Motor Speedway in August of 2013, running a total of five events and earning a best finish of fourth at Martinsville Speedway in the fall. The Daytona Beach, Fla. native is completing the final semester of his Sports Management degree at the University of Florida while vying for the Rookie of the Year title in his first full-time NCWTS effort.

Nationwide Series

DYLAN KWASNIEWSKI

Despite being only 18 years old, Dylan Kwasniewski is one of the youngest and brightest up-and-coming stars in NASCAR. Kwasniewski jumped into the seat of his first kart in Norwalk, Conn. at the age of four. He quickly grabbed his first win and was hooked on racing.  After moving up the ranks from go karts to bandolero to legend cars, Kwasniewski began racing in the ASA Speed Truck Series in 2009. In 2010, the young driver started racing a limited late model car and the Lucas Oil / Rockstar Modified Series before making the transition to NASCAR.

Winning two races and two poles in 2011, Kwasniewski captured the Sunoco Rookie of the Year title in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, racing for Gene Price Motorsports. He became the youngest driver to win a race and a pole with his sweep at Colorado at just 16 years old and was highlighted as one of the top-nine young talents to watch in NASCAR.

In 2012, Kwasniewski returned to Gene Price Motorsports for the full 15-race NASCAR K&N Pro Series West schedule. Again he was named one of NASCAR’s Next9 as he scored three wins, six poles, 12 top fives, and 15 top 10s en route to his first NASCAR championship.

After becoming the youngest driver to win the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West championship in 2012, Kwasniewski moved on to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East with Turner Scott Motorsports (TSM) in 2013. Kwasniewski followed up his stellar 2012 season with another year for the record books. He scored six wins, three poles, nine top fives and 12 top 10s in 14 races to earn the K&N Pro Series East championship, becoming the first driver in NASCAR history to win both the East and West championships. His record-setting year was highlighted on Flat Out, a documentary for AOL. The 11-episode miniseries can be viewed at www.flatoutdk.com.

This season, the 18-year-old sets his sights on the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Kwasniewski will return to TSM and pilot the No. 31 Rockstar Chevrolet Camaro, vying for the coveted Sunoco Rookie of the Year award and seeking his third-straight championship.