Steady progress yields top-half qualifying berth for Pro Stock ace Shane Gray
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Contact: Rob Geiger (832) 971-9345 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Steady progress yields top-half qualifying berth for Pro Stock ace Shane Gray ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GAINESVILLE, Fla. (March 19) -- Round by round, veteran Pro Stock driver Shane Gray and his Valvoline/Nova Services Chevrolet Camaro race team progressed up the qualifying ladder of this weekend's 47th annual NHRA Gatornationals, finally earning a lofty top-half berth with a best run of 6.631 seconds at 208.17 mph. After aborting his first run Friday at the rain-threatened event at Gainesville Raceway, Gray and crew began pecking away at the tune-up, posting a 6.655 at 206.54 mph and a 6.639 at 208.14 mph before ultimately carding his run of record in the final time trial. "My guys are working hard and it's paying off," Gray said. "We're still not where we want to be, but it's extremely encouraging to see us going in the right direction every round. We're all thinking we've got plenty more to gain, so hopefully we'll continue our upward trend in Round 1. "You can't just go crazy with Pro Stock cars. They generally don't like it when you make big moves in the tune-up, so you just have to massage what you got and try to shave little bits off where you can. So far we've been able to do that here, so I'm happy." The Valvoline/Nova Services team has tested extensively since the season-opening Winternationals in Pomona, Calif., and Gray sees the extra effort paying dividends in reliability. "We all want to be as quick and fast as we can be," Gray said. "But at the same time we crave consistency because ultimately you need your car to go down the track every single time. We want it all, really, a consistent car that's extremely quick. "This weekend my dad (former drag racer Johnny Gray) is here helping us, and he's a great resource for all of us to lean on because he has pretty much seen it all in his career. We're enjoying our time together." Gray will open Sunday's eliminations at noon ET opposite Vincent Nobile, who was a tick slower in qualifying ninth overall with a 6.632 at 208.62 mph. "We have lane choice but I'm not sure that's a huge advantage here," Gray said. "It seems both lanes are darn good, and the fact Vincent's run was only one-thousandth of a second slower than ours tells me we're pretty much even in terms of performance. That makes it fun. It should come down to the driver's ability to cut that Tree down. Hopefully I'm up for the challenge." Race day eliminations will air live from 1 to 4 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX Sports 1. Pro Stock driver Shane Gray and his Valvoline/Nova Services Chevrolet Camaro team earned a top-half qualifying berth at the NHRA Gatornationals with a best run of 6.631 seconds at 208.17 mph. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --30-- Visit GrayMotorsports.com [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001VyTT1l4p-whqW1XzbDmS2RbD2voitsxV9orvL1TLPjP8cL8JC-E1sK8YXX1cT1oazbA3BxyOQZYzjOyDGqn9vwlUhWs67AOxz2-OPnDbPpDDma1xiXq64ToV84lrLujfoW1Px31cTxwPn9_cO6O0GqjjWcREfL3zfXFYAthU1y7iQvRTaoyK7g==&c=CBZ14N1q2hpQSfog0EDKO6HtzTlggJpRK6oiZP_Bb-9TPgJW5U4K7Q==&ch=WD9Othw0qS0jmREAF43uOfxdAVoMyEDa0TQSURL_qC5gWHDUEwKA8Q==], Valvoline.com [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001VyTT1l4p-whqW1XzbDmS2RbD2voitsxV9orvL1TLPjP8cL8JC-E1sPM29YfV0raDoMvsvCNH2P56b6GwnLc6KTn75HN5RK1dN-i5WXPkDHAgkEo7nklDQgFsKB3AAhx-TwLGIRh3G-wbPC07sOLfCfymzGylS3rb1HNTvS4RnA4=&c=CBZ14N1q2hpQSfog0EDKO6HtzTlggJpRK6oiZP_Bb-9TPgJW5U4K7Q==&ch=WD9Othw0qS0jmREAF43uOfxdAVoMyEDa0TQSURL_qC5gWHDUEwKA8Q==], NovaMud.com [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001VyTT1l4p-whqW1XzbDmS2RbD2voitsxV9orvL1TLPjP8cL8JC-E1sPM29YfV0raDsYdtRI0gPZQy-ggQXOXFRrQKEGvI_WYJ-OspE2ZG4eH40MEU8atqS9WL2iwNtb6GAFY6CtHHRyco8JTz8GQxw8MypG2YxeJ9T68q2-943AQ=&c=CBZ14N1q2hpQSfog0EDKO6HtzTlggJpRK6oiZP_Bb-9TPgJW5U4K7Q==&ch=WD9Othw0qS0jmREAF43uOfxdAVoMyEDa0TQSURL_qC5gWHDUEwKA8Q==], and GeigerMediaGlobal.com [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001VyTT1l4p-whqW1XzbDmS2RbD2voitsxV9orvL1TLPjP8cL8JC-E1sOEbqq3MHWFIXMZ7pRypoG1T4-Z7x15T249WmRNehErf6j-kJJdsL6Z49cAhdD2D9NlDuCCNNRje4AoiLLf0pZ_OyL7QZxb7HKxiyZjZuFBdj9f-z0lfSQ45x3VngxQJTg==&c=CBZ14N1q2hpQSfog0EDKO6HtzTlggJpRK6oiZP_Bb-9TPgJW5U4K7Q==&ch=WD9Othw0qS0jmREAF43uOfxdAVoMyEDa0TQSURL_qC5gWHDUEwKA8Q==] for more info. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forward this email http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?llr=uiezvfkab&m=1110439661844&ea=$submit@theautochannel.com$&a=1124151183418 This email was sent to submit@theautochannel.com by rob@geigermediaglobal.com. 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