Kaz Grala Wins Mid-Ohio Pole, Sets Track Record in Trans Am Series Debut

June 24, 2022

Practice and qualifying are complete for the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli’s TA/XGT/SGT/GT race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course tomorrow. Today’s qualifying session saw Kaz Grala earn the Motul Pole Award in his series debut, setting a new track record in his No. 2 Technique Chassis/STEEL-IT/Weaver Dodge Challenger with a blistering lap time of 1:20.198, more than a second over Trans Am’s previous track record.

“That was a very dangerously fast lap, it was not exactly comfortable,” said Grala with a laugh after climbing out of the car. “I think I had the thing almost wrecked about six or seven times. It seems that’s what you have to do to wring the speed out of these things. Any time I get to drive a car that invites you to push that hard is always fun. I’m really excited to earn the pole in my first time out. These cars are so much fun and the series is great so far. To be rolling off first tomorrow is a huge accomplishment for myself and for Weaver Racing Concepts. Poles and wins are hard to come by in this sport, no matter the series. With as competitive as Trans Am is, this pole is really meaningful to all of us. We’re excited, but our focus shifts straight to the race. These guys behind me [Matthew Brabham and Chris Dyson] have a lot more experience in Trans Am races. They know how they play out, and how to play the tire-wear game. We’ve got our work ahead of us to try to finish off the weekend as strong as we were today.”

Second in qualifying was Matthew Brabham in the No. 21 allgram Ford Mustang with a 1:20.725, followed by CD Racing owner and teammate Chris Dyson in the No. 20 ALTWELL Mustang with a 1:21.099. David Pintaric was fourth at his home track in his No. 57 Kryderacing Ford Mustang with a 1:21.935, followed by Ken Thwaits in the No. 7 Franklin Road Apparel Chevrolet Camaro with a 1:22.852.

Milton Grant in the No. 55 Sentry Self Storage/Springhill Suites Porsche 991.1 was fastest of the SGT cars with a 1:29.703, while Seth Lucas in the No. 29 Ave Motorsports Audi R8 topped the GT speed charts with a 1:29.929.

Full qualifying results can be found here.

Earlier today, Brabham topped the practice charts with a lap time of 1:20.944. Brabham has been tapped by CD Racing as a substitute driver for Humaid Masaood this weekend and in any other events in which Masaood cannot compete.

Grala was second in practice, laying down a lap time of 1:21.010. Dyson in the No. 20 ALTWELL Ford Mustang was third with a 1:21.358. Pintaric was fourth, with a time of 1:22.196, and Tomy Drissi in the No. 8 Lucas Oil Ford Mustang rounded out the top five with a 1:22.489.

Milton Grant was the fastest SGT competitor with a time of 1:30.148. In GT, Seth Lucas took the top spot with a 1:30.595.

Full practice results can be found here.

The TA race will be contested on Saturday, June 25 at 1:15 p.m. ET. Free live coverage begins at 12:35 p.m. ET at www.youtube.com/TheTransAmSeries.