Grala was nearly at a loss for words, both from the speed his team showed and how consistent they were able to be throughout the event.

“Honestly, I don’t even know what to say. This car was great from the time we unloaded it and we only made it better as the day went on,” said Grala. “At the end of the race, our balance was perfect. I had Kyle Busch out my windshield … that’s always fun. There’s a lot to be excited about from that race. I think I speak for everyone when I say that this was a wildly successful debut for us.”

“If I could have passed Kyle at the end, I certainly would have, but I was more than content to ride behind him and watch him weave his way through,” he continued. “That last restart, I was on the top and someone ahead of us got checked up, so that probably cost us a spot or two, but a top 10 … what more could you ask for in your first race with a new team? It’s incredible.”

Grala had to be conservative for most of the weekend, as his Fury team came to Charlotte without a backup car after only having the three cars he received from former employers JGL Racing as a settlement for his contract to be able to work with.

However, he “let the beast loose” when it came time to get down to business.

“In practice and on our mock run … and even in qualifying, we had to be a little bit careful, but in the race I was as aggressive as I could be and really going for it, because I knew these guys deserved a good run and I didn’t want to be the reason they didn’t get it,” Grala stressed.

“I was driving my guts out there,” he added. “If you ask them, I think I asked for six bottles of water during that race, because I was literally leaving nothing on the table. That’s the way you have to race in the Xfinity Series, because everyone is too freaking good to not go all out every single lap.”

Grala finished ahead of cars from Stewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBeste, JR Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Team Penske and Roush Fenway Racing at the end of the day – a testament to just how good his race car was down the stretch.

“In the race, Shane Wilson and everyone on the box did a great job managing our adjustments and got the car, honestly, to neutral balance by about halfway in the race. Any time you can accomplish that, you’re going to have a good day,” said Grala. “From there, it was just about slowly and methodically gaining track position once we had the car handling where we wanted it to.

“At the end, it was perfect. If we’d had another pit stop, I wouldn’t have told them to change a thing.”

After giving a huge hug to his dad and several of his team members, Grala looked around, shook his head in slight shock and beamed.

It was a Saturday of massive proportions for a little team that defied all the odds just to compete.

“I’m so proud of everyone on this team. I can’t thank them enough,” noted Grala. “This is a dream come true for me. It really is.”