dia obligations and winner’ s circle photos and all that, it can be a whirlwind of activity, but I always try to remind myself and the guys to stop and embrace that moment. It’ s very hard to come by and so fleeting; you have to physically stop and enjoy it.”
During his long run of qualifying success, which started when Dave Connolly returned to the team as crew chief after a stint driving a Top Fuel dragster, Gray has powered through to the semifinals four times.
“ When you get that close to your goal, it’ s exciting,” Gray said.“ But you have to also remember that the other three cars left in the fight are running really well that particular weekend. We’ ve had two drivers from one team win 13 of the first 14 races, but that streak got busted last weekend in Denver, which gave the rest of us in the chase pack a reason to fight that much harder. Those two have been dominant but they’ re not unbeatable.”
In six years of racing in the Pro Stock category, Gray has reached 12 final rounds, winning four times. To date, Sonoma Raceway is not on the list of places where he’ s scored.
“ We’ d love to win this race, no doubt,” Gray said.“ It’ s a great track in one of the prettiest places in the country. It’ s a long way from home for us Carolina boys but we have won in Pomona and Las Vegas before so maybe the West Coast suits us. We’ ll just keep doing what we’ ve been doing. I know things will fall our way soon.”