[coverattach=1]Pomona, Sunday: The 45th annual Automobile Club of Southern California Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona is over signaling the end of the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing season. For Pro Stock pro, Johnny Gray it was season of ups and downs, but the determined driver and team owner overcame his obstacles and ended the season in the upward direction.
This weekend, Gray qualified in the top half of the field with four strong qualifying runs and took on Kurt Johnson in the first-round of eliminations. Gray has faced Johnson twice before during the year and always came out on the winning side. But it was not to happen today. Gray was ready for Johnson and left on him at the tree but encountered problems when he hit second gear and only ran 6.912 at 206.39 mph against Johnson’s 6.642.
“We just flat went up there loaded for bear,” explained Gray, “and the track wouldn’t take it and so, it blew the tires off. Now all that’s left is to look to next year.”
Even though Gray and his team had some struggles this year, the overall picture is good. He qualified for every race, which is a feat in the highly competitive class and had two final-round appearances. Gray will end the year No. 9 in the Full Throttle Championship point standings.
“We had a really good end of the season,” said Gray. “I’m not going to say we had a good season, but the last third of the season was really good. It showed that my guys are good and do a really good job. We just had some issues early on, but we overcame them and turned the year around. But we’re looking to a bigger and better season next year.”
Gray has big plans for next year. He is developing his own engine program and is building a two car team, bringing in his two sons, Jonathan as a crewmember and Shane, as a driver.
“We are looking forward to what we have going on for next year,” said Gray, “and we are knee deep involved. As a matter of fact, I’ve just been on the phone already today working on next year’s stuff. So, we’re ready to go.”
This weekend, Gray qualified in the top half of the field with four strong qualifying runs and took on Kurt Johnson in the first-round of eliminations. Gray has faced Johnson twice before during the year and always came out on the winning side. But it was not to happen today. Gray was ready for Johnson and left on him at the tree but encountered problems when he hit second gear and only ran 6.912 at 206.39 mph against Johnson’s 6.642.
“We just flat went up there loaded for bear,” explained Gray, “and the track wouldn’t take it and so, it blew the tires off. Now all that’s left is to look to next year.”
Even though Gray and his team had some struggles this year, the overall picture is good. He qualified for every race, which is a feat in the highly competitive class and had two final-round appearances. Gray will end the year No. 9 in the Full Throttle Championship point standings.
“We had a really good end of the season,” said Gray. “I’m not going to say we had a good season, but the last third of the season was really good. It showed that my guys are good and do a really good job. We just had some issues early on, but we overcame them and turned the year around. But we’re looking to a bigger and better season next year.”
Gray has big plans for next year. He is developing his own engine program and is building a two car team, bringing in his two sons, Jonathan as a crewmember and Shane, as a driver.
“We are looking forward to what we have going on for next year,” said Gray, “and we are knee deep involved. As a matter of fact, I’ve just been on the phone already today working on next year’s stuff. So, we’re ready to go.”
