Allen Johnson

[Jeff]

So you have a conversation starter for him next time you are at a national event in the pits.

 

[camaro]

As one retires a new face arrives. The future of Pro Stock will be great with Tanner Gray, however .........

not sure if i'm all in on that. as a kid with plenty of options in life, Tanner strikes me as someone, who will get bored, especially, during the 'lean' times when things are not going to well. Jonathan gray, who could have raced as long as he wanted to, only hung around for a couple of years and quit for whatever reason, but had he average 5 or 6 wins a year would he still be racing PS ? If shane were in the hunt every year and winning races would he have quit.?

 

[megadeth]

He is a MOPAR guy and refuses to drive a Camaro like all the others!
I’m sorry the lack of manufacturers has made the class a kind of joke!
I think Butner made the the best of the joke by using theme painted cars even if it’s just for Halloween!

 

[none]

not sure if i'm all in on that. as a kid with plenty of options in life, Tanner strikes me as someone, who will get bored, especially, during the 'lean' times when things are not going to well. Jonathan gray, who could have raced as long as he wanted to, only hung around for a couple of years and quit for whatever reason, but had he average 5 or 6 wins a year would he still be racing PS ? If shane were in the hunt every year and winning races would he have quit.?

You do realize that Jonathan is still racing a full Pro Mod schedule right? And that Shane finished 3rd in 2016? That's not exactly barely qualifying or not being competitive.
Alan

 

[camaro]

You do realize that Jonathan is still racing a full Pro Mod schedule right? And that Shane finished 3rd in 2016? That's not exactly barely qualifying or not being competitive.
Alan

seems like u missed my point completely. I'll try again. Shane, Johnny, Jonathan all voluntarily left PRO STOCK for whatever reason. With an unlimited budget, coming in 3rd or worst,winning a race a year is perhaps probably not enuff to sustain their interest in the class. I'm merely posing the question, if any of the 3 older Gray's were winning a handful or more races a year, would they have still quit. Tanner won 5 races, but I wonder will he still be interested in continuing if he goes thru a lean year or 2 with modest results. I also seem to recall one of the announcers saying during the last broadcast that Tanner WILL be back in 2018 as if there were some question about him returning, so with all that I question will he in fact be the future of pro stock

 

[none]

James,

You are correct, I did misunderstand what you were saying. But Johnny left Pro Stock to go Funny Car racing, and Jonathan left to go Pro Mod racing, plus he still has a business that requires a lot of his time in New Mexico (12 races is more appealing to him than 24). Shane said he was stepping back to focus on Tanner. This year Gray Motorsports won 10 races, including a run of 7 straight at one point. Sounds competitive to me. I also don't believe that Johnny would have invested what he did on a whim if there wasn't a commitment to race more than just a year or two. Could they decide to all quit and do something else? Yes, they certainly could, but I think with the investment they have made that Gray Motorsports will have a presence in Pro Stock for quite some time, no matter who is driving.

Just my opinion,
Alan

 

[KINGOFTHINGS]

I know the KB Racing guys and Bo are dominating, Ken is an old car club buddy of mine, I’m a Chevy guy.
I’ve been going to the drags for some 47 years.
Teams dominate sometimes.
Same complaints went on in PS with Jenkins, S&M, Glidden, Warren and on and on.
Happens in other classes too.
It just is.

 

[ironpony]

the only difference is when MOPAR dominated NHRA quickly factored them out of dominance, now with GM they just let it go. Actually up until the RPM cap MOPAR was competitive.
Same in PSB Harley has a monopoly on that engine design and no one else can run it.
The biggest problem is no factory support because it is so far from factory they are not interested anymore

 

[stitcherbob]

I'm just tired that when Mopar fields a PS combo,everybody tears it apart saying it's not a true Hemi, it's a GM copy.....blah blah blah

Let's see the SS/ Hemi Challenge get bigger and televised more!

 

[RM FAN]

the only difference is when MOPAR dominated NHRA quickly factored them out of dominance, now with GM they just let it go. Actually up until the RPM cap MOPAR was competitive.
Same in PSB Harley has a monopoly on that engine design and no one else can run it.
The biggest problem is no factory support because it is so far from factory they are not interested anymore

With GM they just let what go? The NHRA factored in NOS for MOPAR only to allow them to win championships so they are even now. If you would like to see who can/cant make an engine run reboot PS to 400 cube engines with turbos and superchargers.

 

[stitcherbob]

The NHRA factored in NOS for MOPAR only to allow them to win championships....

I also hear people say we may have not landed on the moon....

The only ones caught with NOS were a GM team, and a PS driver said that currently only one successful PS team has been able to crack the firewall in the EFI computer box...in a field of Camaros who could that be?

 

[ironpony]

The team that hired the guy who developed the Holley EFI system.............................KB

 

[RM FAN]

I also hear people say we may have not landed on the moon....

The only ones caught with NOS were a GM team, and a PS driver said that currently only one successful PS team has been able to crack the firewall in the EFI computer box...in a field of Camaros who could that be?

The NHRA techs all became astronomers when the Mopars went through tech inspections so yeah they were never going to be caught.

 

[stitcherbob]

I find it very hard to believe any retired/ex NHRA Techs from that era would stay silent on that if it were true...juicy gossip is hard to keep down

and with the major players all out (Wayne County, WJ, Mopar, Oldsmobile), what's the harm?

 

[FABMAN]

I heard they were putting Nitro in the oil.

 

[TSK]

I'm just tired that when Mopar fields a PS combo,everybody tears it apart saying it's not a true Hemi, it's a GM copy.....blah blah blah

Let's see the SS/ Hemi Challenge get bigger and televised more!

Oh man, I would love to see that. There’s something about a Hemi, with dual Dominators on a serious top end charge, that gets the blood flowing.

 

[Ron]

As one retires a new face arrives. The future of Pro Stock will be great with Tanner Gray, however, I will always miss AJ. A class act all the way.

I hope Tanner learns a little class. Acted like a rich kid several times with his attitude not the same class his dad and granddad have. OK flame away...