Grist stayed as Kankkunen's co-driver until 1997 when he joined Colin McRae with the 555 Subaru World Rally Team.

The season began well with a second in Monte Carlo and a win in Portugal, but during the Safari Rally, crashed at 180 km/h after hitting a pothole that had formed due to the rain.

By mid season Grist and Kankkunen were tied at the top of the points with Carlos Sainz, but after mechanical problems and the a crash in Finland put them 20 minutes behind and they finished the WRC in 3rd position.

After the Rally Catalunya, Toyota were found guilty of the implementation of illegal turbo restrictor bypasses on their ST205 cars.

In 1996, Grist competed with Kankkunen for private Toyota teams in three events and finished fourth in Sweden, third in Indonesia and second in Finland.

With the improvement in reliability of the Focus WRC 00 towards the later half of 2000 Grist joined with McRae, signed a further two-year contract with Ford, and started 2001 with three retirements and a 9th at the Swedish Rally.

Grist worked as the presenter of the programme for Speed TV, explaining the rules and showing why a particular stage is a challenge.

It was in this rally that Markko Märtin's co-driver Michael Park, from Newent, Gloucester, a long-term friend of Grist's was killed when their Peugeot hit a tree.

Grist and McRae finished 7th just ahead of fellow Brit, Mark Higgins with Sébastien Loeb refusing the ten points from that stage win, in respect for the loss of his friend.

Later that same year they raced the Skoda in Rally Australia, and in some stages leading the way, however, team mechanics issues resulted in the two having to retire.

In 2006 Grist joined McRae for X Games 12 in Los Angeles, America, and throughout the televised event they fought for the lead, however on the last jump they landed badly, popped a tyre and then rolled but still managed to right themselves, losing only 2 seconds in the roll, getting to the finish line just over half a second behind Travis Pastrana and Christian Edstrom, and in front of Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino, bringing them to the attention of many Americans who had never heard of them before.

Nicky also appeared in a special episode of the British automotive magazine show Fifth Gear alongside Mark Higgins, instructing the hosts as they participate in a rally.

With customers such as Petter Solberg, Ken Block, Kris Meeke and Sébastien Loeb, Grist is still in touch with all that is happening in the WRC.

In addition, Grist is unofficially a consultant to the FIA WRC, concerned with matters of safety, helmet and HANS device regulations to the British sport.