POMONA, Saturday: Johnny Gray started out this weekend with a new car, a new engine program, and a new teammate, his son, Shane. This is a great amount of challenges to tackle all at once. But the veteran driver and team owner took them on with a vengeance and came out the conqueror. Both Gray and his son qualified for the 50th annual NHRA Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals at the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona and began the 2010 season on a high note.
“To get both cars in the show was a goal that we had,” explained Gray. “You have to set your standards pretty high if you want to succeed. A lot of people said we couldn’t do it but we did. Both the crews worked real hard and the guys back at the shop all spent countless hours in order to get us here. We’re all ecstatic about where we’re at but we know there’s room for improvement. And I have no doubt in my mind that by mid-season we’ll be a couple of front half cars and we’ll be tough to deal with.”
Gray had struggled with new car blues in earlier qualifying sessions, but those struggles started to melt away today. On his first run, he ran 6.672 at 208.01 mph. This wasn’t enough to secure him a spot in the show and as he went up to the line for his last chance, he was sitting in the No. 18 spot. But Gray changed all that when he made his quickest run of qualifying, a 6.627 at 208.52 mph, the eighth quickest pass of the session. This landed Gray in the No. 12 position when qualifying ended.
Gray’s will face the No. 5 qualifier, Rodger Brogdon in the first-round of eliminations tomorrow.
“Any time you qualify in Pro Stock you have a chance of going some rounds,” said Gray. “The field is so close and the conditions are such that you can win from any position. I’d love to go a round and I’d really love to see Shane go a round. That would be awesome and a great start for him. But no matter what happens we’re going out there with the thought in mind that we’ve achieved a wonderful goal here and we’ll go and let the chips fall where they will tomorrow.”
“To get both cars in the show was a goal that we had,” explained Gray. “You have to set your standards pretty high if you want to succeed. A lot of people said we couldn’t do it but we did. Both the crews worked real hard and the guys back at the shop all spent countless hours in order to get us here. We’re all ecstatic about where we’re at but we know there’s room for improvement. And I have no doubt in my mind that by mid-season we’ll be a couple of front half cars and we’ll be tough to deal with.”
Gray had struggled with new car blues in earlier qualifying sessions, but those struggles started to melt away today. On his first run, he ran 6.672 at 208.01 mph. This wasn’t enough to secure him a spot in the show and as he went up to the line for his last chance, he was sitting in the No. 18 spot. But Gray changed all that when he made his quickest run of qualifying, a 6.627 at 208.52 mph, the eighth quickest pass of the session. This landed Gray in the No. 12 position when qualifying ended.
Gray’s will face the No. 5 qualifier, Rodger Brogdon in the first-round of eliminations tomorrow.
“Any time you qualify in Pro Stock you have a chance of going some rounds,” said Gray. “The field is so close and the conditions are such that you can win from any position. I’d love to go a round and I’d really love to see Shane go a round. That would be awesome and a great start for him. But no matter what happens we’re going out there with the thought in mind that we’ve achieved a wonderful goal here and we’ll go and let the chips fall where they will tomorrow.”
