Gray qualifies Wonder Wagon 11th in Vegas

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2004 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 22 of 23
ACDELCO LAS VEGAS NHRA NATIONALS
THE STRIP AT LAS VEGAS
RACE DATES: Oct. 29-31, 2004



JOHNNY GRAY QUALIFIES WONDER WAGON NO. 11 IN VEGAS

LAS VEGAS (Oct. 30, 2004) - Johnny Gray found himself out of the Funny Car
field after three qualifying rounds this weekend for the ACDelco Las Vegas
NHRA Nationals, the next-to-last event of the 2004 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing
Series.

The final round was his last chance to place Don Schumacher's Wonder Wagon
Dodge in the top 16 after posting three tire-smoking runs (13.542/87.31,
5.294/299.06 and 8.328/1-5.39). Temperatures in the 60s and a low-in-the-sky
autumn sun produced nearly perfect conditions, although not as good as
Friday night's session, and Gray blasted straight down the quarter-mile to a
4.853-second elapsed time at 324.05 mph to place him solidly in the No. 11
spot.

"That was close," he said. "We've been testing pieces and parts for 2005,
which will benefit the entire Don Schumacher Racing organization, and these
are the chances you take when you are also trying to qualify for the event.
But we made it, and we accomplished it with a really good pass. So, I'm
looking forward to tomorrow's eliminations and the first round against Tony
Pedregon."

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