Johnny Gray scored his first career NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Funny Car win on Sunday, Aug. 21 in the 30th Annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd (Minn.) International Raceway in an all Mopar–powered final against his Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) teammate Ron Capps.
In the final round, the pair got off the line nearly at the same time in their Dodge/Charger R/T Funny Cars, with Gray running a 4.113/307.02 with a 0.088 reaction time to Capps’ pass of 4.134/307.37 coupled with a 0.083-second reaction time. The margin of victory was 0.0161 seconds, approximately seven feet on the track.
"I’ve wanted to win a race in Funny Car and it feels great to have finally made it," said Gray. "You’ve got to have a good car and a bit of luck to win and we had both of them today. Ron wasn’t going to give us anything and he wanted that win as badly as I did. If anything, the car was better than the numbers, because I probably left a bit on the table with my slow roll off."
Gray, the No. 7 qualifier, began his march to the final with an opening round victory over Jeff Arend, with a run of 4.212/298.60 to his opponent’s 4.270/297.02, as the pair got off the line at the exact same time. In the quarters, Gray downed Cruz Pedregon, before defeating Bob Tasca III in the semis.
Capps opened eliminations by edging Jim Head in the first round to advance to the quarters against Mike Neff, where he used a starting line advantage to pick up the win. In the semifinals, Capps took on teammate Matt Hagan, getting off the line first and taking the win to move on to the final round. Hagan, the No. 1 Qualifier, was victorious in the opening stanza over Tony Pedregon, before a win over Melanie Troxel in the quarters. Fellow Mopar–powered DSR driver Jack Beckman fell in the opening round.
Beckman is currently third in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Funny Car standings, with fellow Mopar–powered DSR drivers Hagan fifth, Capps sixth and Gray 11th. Next up for the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series is the 57th Annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis, Ind., Aug 31–Sept. 5. For more information on the NHRA visit NHRA.com.
In the final round, the pair got off the line nearly at the same time in their Dodge/Charger R/T Funny Cars, with Gray running a 4.113/307.02 with a 0.088 reaction time to Capps’ pass of 4.134/307.37 coupled with a 0.083-second reaction time. The margin of victory was 0.0161 seconds, approximately seven feet on the track.
"I’ve wanted to win a race in Funny Car and it feels great to have finally made it," said Gray. "You’ve got to have a good car and a bit of luck to win and we had both of them today. Ron wasn’t going to give us anything and he wanted that win as badly as I did. If anything, the car was better than the numbers, because I probably left a bit on the table with my slow roll off."
Gray, the No. 7 qualifier, began his march to the final with an opening round victory over Jeff Arend, with a run of 4.212/298.60 to his opponent’s 4.270/297.02, as the pair got off the line at the exact same time. In the quarters, Gray downed Cruz Pedregon, before defeating Bob Tasca III in the semis.
Capps opened eliminations by edging Jim Head in the first round to advance to the quarters against Mike Neff, where he used a starting line advantage to pick up the win. In the semifinals, Capps took on teammate Matt Hagan, getting off the line first and taking the win to move on to the final round. Hagan, the No. 1 Qualifier, was victorious in the opening stanza over Tony Pedregon, before a win over Melanie Troxel in the quarters. Fellow Mopar–powered DSR driver Jack Beckman fell in the opening round.
Beckman is currently third in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Funny Car standings, with fellow Mopar–powered DSR drivers Hagan fifth, Capps sixth and Gray 11th. Next up for the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series is the 57th Annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis, Ind., Aug 31–Sept. 5. For more information on the NHRA visit NHRA.com.
