A Russian driver of Latvian background, Gryazin has competed from the start of his career under the backing of Sports Racing Technologies, a Russian junior rally programme that provided technical and financial support throughout his formative years. He subsequently moved to competing under a Bulgarian licence for international events.
Gryazin first rose to prominence in 2016 in the junior classes of the European Rally Championship, contesting a full ERC-3 campaign in an R2-spec Peugeot 208. Early performances showed raw pace but inconsistency — after four retirements he scored a class win at the Polish round in Rzeszów and a podium at the Czech Rally Zlín, finishing fourth in the ERC-3 standings. He also placed sixth in the Latvian junior championship that year.
In 2017, Gryazin stepped up to four-wheel drive machinery, using a Škoda Fabia R5 for a full outright campaign across the European Rally Championship, the Latvian championship, and selected regional events. Progress was initially modest — a best finish of fifth at the Rallye Açores — but he came good at the season-ending Rally Liepaja, where he fought Kalle Rovanperä for the overall win. He ended the ERC season seventh and was runner-up in the Under-28 trophy. In Latvia he claimed three victories and finished second in the championship, with additional wins in Estonia, Slovenia, and Finland.
The 2018 season marked his decisive breakthrough. Running full campaigns in the ERC, Latvian, and Finnish championships, Gryazin recorded two ERC overall victories: in Poland after a hard battle with Jari Huttunen, and at Rally Liepaja for the second consecutive year. These results brought him second in the 2018 ERC standings and the Under-28 title. In Latvia he scored three wins on the way to third in the championship, took fourth in the Finnish championship with one win, and added further podiums and victories in Poland, Lithuania, Italy, Sweden, and Norway.
After the 2018 breakthrough, Gryazin and Sports Racing Technologies stepped up to a full-season WRC-2 campaign in 2019. Following warm-up victories in Norway, he made his WRC debut at Rally Sweden, finishing fifteenth overall and fifth in the WRC-2 class. At Corsica he finished twelfth overall and second in WRC-2, capitalising on the retirements of the frontrunners. His first WRC-2 class victory came at Rally Finland. The remainder of his 2019 calendar focused on non-fly-away European events.
Gryazin subsequently joined Lancia Corse, driving a Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale in the WRC-2 class, with fellow Russian Konstantin Aleksandrov as co-driver.
The Gryazin family carries three generations of rally involvement. Father Stanislav Gryazin was a rally driver, and older brother Vasiliy Gryazin has also competed at international level. Nikolay's ERC victories and WRC programme represent the most prominent chapter of the family's international rallying career to date.
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