DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — For the second-consecutive year at Daytona Int’l Speedway, GMS Racing produced a first-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series pole winner in Keystone Light Pole Qualifying.
Unlike last year, when former ARCA Racing Series champion Grant Enfinger stormed to the top spot on the pylon, this time it was young rookie Kaz Grala who took qualifying honors at the World Center of Racing, posting a time of 49.813 seconds (180.676 mph) to lead a GMS sweep of the top three positions on the grid.
Grala, a Westborough, Massachusetts native, led both knockout rounds and becomes the youngest pole winner at Daytona in any series at 18 years, one month and 26 days old.
The effort also put the No. 33 GMS Racing Chevrolet Silverado on the Truck pole at Daytona for the third-straight year, with Grala following in the footsteps of Ty Dillon (2015) and Enfinger (2016)
“It’s very exciting for me, but honestly I’m even more excited for my guys: Jerry Baxter, everybody over at GMS Racing, especially on the No. 33 crew,” Grala said. “This piece is really, really nice. It’s a bullet. Can’t thank them enough for this, it’s definitely for them. Now, the next 100 laps, that’s going to be on me. They won what they needed to this weekend and now it’s going to be about driver-spotter communication.”
Reigning series champion Johnny Sauter came close to scoring the pole in his own right, but will start his defense of last year’s Daytona victory from second after a lap of 49.937 seconds (180.227 mph) on his final run.
“It’s all about the guys at the GMS shop and our Hendrick horsepower,” Sauter said. “Our Allegiant Travel Chevy felt really good yesterday with what little bit we did draft.”
“(Daytona’s) a fun race, I enjoy this kind of racing. It’s just something a little bit different. I’m really proud of everybody … that’s cool for us to have the top-three spots there (as a team). If we can work together tonight, hopefully one of us is winning this race.”
Spencer Gallagher (50.018/179.935) timed in third-fastest to complete the GMS qualifying podium, followed by the Toyotas of Christopher Bell and Timothy Peters.
Brett Moffitt, Matt Crafton, Ben Rhodes, Joe Nemechek, Korbin Forrister, Enfinger and Noah Gragson were the rest of the 12 trucks who advanced through both rounds of qualifying.
The potent Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 51 Toyota, driven for Friday night’s opener by rookie Myatt Snider, was the first truck to miss the cut for the final round with a time of 50.499 seconds (178.221 mph).
Snider will start 13th as he makes his Truck Series debut, hoping to hand KBM their first win in the Daytona season-opener.
Other notables who are mired deep in the starting order include practice leader Chase Briscoe (16th), John Hunter Nemechek (19th), eight-time Daytona ARCA winner Bobby Gerhart (21st) and former Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regular Regan Smith (25th).
J.J. Yeley, in the No. 22 Toyota for AM Racing, was the final driver to lock in on speed by qualifying 27th.
With 42 trucks on the grounds, 10 drivers failed to make the starting field for Friday night’s race.
Chris Fontaine, Norm Benning, Brandon Brown, T.J. Bell, Bryan Dauzat, Jordan Anderson, Timothy Viens, Spencer Boyd, Jennifer Jo Cobb and Parker Kligerman were all sent home early following the first round of qualifying.
Boyd appeared to blow a motor in his No. 12 entry, while Kligerman encountered transmission issues before taking the green in the No. 75 truck for Henderson Motorsports.
The NextEra Energy Resources 250 takes the green flag at 7:30 p.m., with live coverage on FOX Sports 1, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
Qualifying results can be viewed on the next page…
