POMONA, Friday: After two qualifying sessions at the 50th annual NHRA Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals at the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona newly licensed Pro Stock driver, Shane Gray, looks more like a seasoned pro than a newcomer as he handles the Gray Motorsports Pontiac GXP down the quarter-mile.
In the first session yesterday, Gray was the first car out on a single run. He impressed everyone watching as he made a clean, straight run at 6.642 at 208.23 mph. This run put him in the No. 9 qualifying position.
“I was glad to get that first run over with yesterday,” said Gray. “It allowed me to be more relaxed today. But it was a great experience and as soon as I climbed out of the car, I was ready to do it again.
“We were in the bad lane, the right lane, and we thought there were probably three to four hundreds left in the car. We looked at the computer and made adjustments where we thought they needed to be adjusted and we looked to pick up a little bit. And if I did a decent job driving it; we hoped to speed up.”
On today’s run, Gray again made a clean, straight run but slowed a bit to a 6.673 at 207.91. This was still an impressive run for a new car and driver, but it left Gray a little disappointed. He is still qualified but now he’s in the No. 11 spot.
“We certainly weren’t looking to slow down today,” said Gray. “The racetrack was not as good as yesterday and the air was not as good. Plus, we missed the tune-up on the car as well. Now we have to wait and see what we can do tomorrow.
“Our first run is a noon and the conditions should be a little cooler and then our second at is about the same time as today. I think if anyone is going to improve, it will be at noontime instead of in the afternoon. So, now we’ll wait see if we can be one of the cars to improve and with a little luck we’ll qualify and get to race on Sunday.”
In the first session yesterday, Gray was the first car out on a single run. He impressed everyone watching as he made a clean, straight run at 6.642 at 208.23 mph. This run put him in the No. 9 qualifying position.
“I was glad to get that first run over with yesterday,” said Gray. “It allowed me to be more relaxed today. But it was a great experience and as soon as I climbed out of the car, I was ready to do it again.
“We were in the bad lane, the right lane, and we thought there were probably three to four hundreds left in the car. We looked at the computer and made adjustments where we thought they needed to be adjusted and we looked to pick up a little bit. And if I did a decent job driving it; we hoped to speed up.”
On today’s run, Gray again made a clean, straight run but slowed a bit to a 6.673 at 207.91. This was still an impressive run for a new car and driver, but it left Gray a little disappointed. He is still qualified but now he’s in the No. 11 spot.
“We certainly weren’t looking to slow down today,” said Gray. “The racetrack was not as good as yesterday and the air was not as good. Plus, we missed the tune-up on the car as well. Now we have to wait and see what we can do tomorrow.
“Our first run is a noon and the conditions should be a little cooler and then our second at is about the same time as today. I think if anyone is going to improve, it will be at noontime instead of in the afternoon. So, now we’ll wait see if we can be one of the cars to improve and with a little luck we’ll qualify and get to race on Sunday.”
