In the second hit on Saturday, we had some mechanical issues to sort out and shut the car off early in the run.ĭZ: Do you feel a big difference in the extra ~50 miles per hour you trap here as compared to eighth-mile speeds? I saw the eighth-mile cones coming up and I really didn’t want to clip ‘em at an NHRA race, so I threw the ‘chutes early to get it straightened out. I was motoring on down through there, but the car was pushing to the right and I kept saying ‘come on, let’s go over to the left’ but she didn’t want to listen, so I was trying to force it down there. I was out on Balooshi and couldn’t even hear him. Gray: In the first qualifying run on Friday, the car left good. That’s very unusual for you what happened there? When you cross the eighth-mile mark, you’ve only got one or two more wheel pulls to get it straight so that you’re ready to head like an arrow and rocket down the rest of the way.ĭZ: You qualified 15th at Atlanta after only going 6.593 at 134.97 mph. Sometimes you’re huckin’ and buckin’ and swerving around to drive it on down through there, but you have to be paying attention and know where you’re at on the track. All of my peers have told me that I have to get the car squared up and in the center of the track by the time I hit the eighth-mile trap so I can be ready to tote the mail on down. Gray: I’ve always raced eighth-mile, so now that distance feels extremely short. What’s it been like racing over a longer distance? I’ve got no problem hitting the tree or looking around the blower versus the hood scoop on my nitrous cars.ĭZ: You’ve never run the quarter-mile prior to Pro Mod. Even with it only doing a 6-inch wheelie, all I see is the hood versus driving with the back end lifting and being able to see down the track a lot better. On a big tire car, it squats in the back instead of raising up so my vision is impaired as the car leaves the line. Really, it’s been more about the tires and getting a feel of them and trusting the wheelie bars. Gray: A power adder is a power adder to me, so other than getting used to it being a lot louder – which only took one or two runs – that’s been the same. You have to race your way into every event, and I like that challenge.ĭZ: What has it been like adapting to a blower car on big tires?
#Nhra drag racing pro mod mod
We were looking at Radial vs the World, but Pro Mod has a larger group of competitors showing up at every track. Gray: Mostly it was that the opportunity presented itself. Dragzine’s Ainsley Jacobs caught up with Gray at the event to get his perspective on what it’s been like since making the switch and how the weekend played out.ĭragzine: What made you decide to go Pro Mod racing in the first place? Impressively, Gray picked up two round wins in eliminations before going out in the semi-finals and gained a ton of experience along the way.Īfter almost a two-month break in the schedule, Gray was more than ready to get back into the drivers’ seat for the second stop on the NHRA tour – the 40th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Southern Nationals at Georgia’s Atlanta Dragway. There, Gray qualified 12th in what was one of the quickest fields in history, as his 5.802 at 248.52 mph hit put him in good company amongst the veteran drivers.
#Nhra drag racing pro mod series
Gray made his inaugural laps at the World Doorslammer Nationals event in early March to obtain his license, then moved on to make his official debut in the series at the NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway in Florida. Gray decided to continue his relentless domination of doorslammer drag racing by venturing into the highly-competitive world of NHRA Pro Modified class racing in 2021.Įarly in the year, Gray partnered with three-time NHRA Pro Mod world champion Mike Janis to drive the Mike Janis Racing team’s supercharged 2020 Chevy Camaro for the 2021 E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing series presented by J&A Service season. After rightfully earning a reputation as one of the most feared grudge racers in the country, and winning Radial vs the World for a cool $70,000 at the exclusive DXP Sweet 16 3.0 race in October of 2020 with an all-new car, J.R.
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