Shane Gray vows to fight on after first-round defeat in Houston
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Contact: Rob Geiger (832) 971-9345 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shane Gray vows to fight on after first-round defeat in Houston ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ HOUSTON (May 1) -- Not long after Shane Gray and his Valvoline/Nova Services Chevrolet fell in the first round of the 29th annual NHRA SpringNationals on Sunday at Royal Purple Raceway, Gray and the Gray Motorsports brain trust were still hard at work. Gray and crew chiefs Jim Yates and Craig Hankinson were going over the data from Gray's pass of 6.661 seconds at 208.30 mph, discussing what could be done to make it better in the future. "It's frustrating, but we're not going to throw our hands in the air and give up," Gray said. "Nobody said this was easy, and it sure hasn't been this year, but we're not going to stop until we get it figured out. I've got some really smart guys on this team, and we'll keep working on it." Gray, the No. 10 qualifier, fell to No. 5 qualifier Allen Johnson, who made a pass of 6.635 seconds at 208.46 mph. Yates, the talented crew chief, joined the team earlier season, while Hankinson tunes Alex Laughlin's Gas Monkey Garage Camaro, which has a Gray Motorsports engine under the hood. NHRA mandated several rules changes for Pro Stock for this season, including fuel-injected engines with a 10,500 rpm limit. Several teams have struggled to tune the recalcitrant Pro Stock cars mated with the new engines, and the development process is ongoing. "I truly believe we have plenty of power under the hood," Gray said. "Our guys back in the engine shop have been working extremely hard building good motors. We have the power; we just need to get it to the racetrack better." Gray's belief that he had plenty of smoke under the hood is proven by his speed. His mph was fifth-best among the 13 cars that made first-round runs and only 1.6 mph slower than the fastest car. Plus, Gray's car is consistently among the best in the second half of his runs. "There's only one way to get better, and that's to keep working," Gray said. "We're not afraid of that. If we can match the early numbers to the late numbers, we'll be right there. I know we can." The NHRA Mello Yello tour takes a weekend off before returning to action May 13-15 with the Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway. This race will air from 4 to 7 p.m., Sunday, on FOX Sports 1. Despite posting the fifth-best speed in round one, Valvoline/Nova Services driver Shane Gray's pass of 6.661 seconds at 208.30 mph was not enough to advance at the NHRA SpringNationals in Houston. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --30-- Visit GrayMotorsports.com [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001bumdh-d5EL1EbWS1jLV3iDmtIWh8Bqk98Hh4r5TRlL-JSLRD7TCOqktOplISRkuUZuRJbMDCbjN9A7QemZH3hhJEL1Ocq8FDptPurfARAKZeZpmnB5rudx8PU7cr-gavZ0wxau2VkDBUgaotWB18Qw8qx94miriAXEsWAthb9iITrlB8UWFJJg==&c=_1S9h1nql4jmrKUxa2YHS4I9sfQxQs5cAqXWn4D8gSuV-LGr9N7nKQ==&ch=VbPrI5CX26vq1CNaeaSVDsl08aR_aPIPlLUNt9z9TfOCLczrsIE1pw==], Valvoline.com [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001bumdh-d5EL1EbWS1jLV3iDmtIWh8Bqk98Hh4r5TRlL-JSLRD7TCOqnrrbnpPw2l0pXKn94t5jWW80Rr-qd7BZPa5cOWhtnTGza6t-i8ox-4T5WePlPcRxmSwaoyj57dhQyU_Bu8QdLFs1A6fjNUJv9fyblZ4NwthhHLI5tDizGM=&c=_1S9h1nql4jmrKUxa2YHS4I9sfQxQs5cAqXWn4D8gSuV-LGr9N7nKQ==&ch=VbPrI5CX26vq1CNaeaSVDsl08aR_aPIPlLUNt9z9TfOCLczrsIE1pw==], NovaMud.com [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001bumdh-d5EL1EbWS1jLV3iDmtIWh8Bqk98Hh4r5TRlL-JSLRD7TCOqnrrbnpPw2l005s_I1ArstTESctKcYVS_WV2HUguL_R6s1yJ79w96Lj4wfkEqgL7jHHpTfKZzAoPfZ31o3CKDYItKxb4Fx-NspfUXLyqA1G8r4_qTGZqQYg=&c=_1S9h1nql4jmrKUxa2YHS4I9sfQxQs5cAqXWn4D8gSuV-LGr9N7nKQ==&ch=VbPrI5CX26vq1CNaeaSVDsl08aR_aPIPlLUNt9z9TfOCLczrsIE1pw==], and GeigerMediaGlobal.com [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001bumdh-d5EL1EbWS1jLV3iDmtIWh8Bqk98Hh4r5TRlL-JSLRD7TCOquZeY-ZSf3IMR2qwjXgi7NNk4FyIoZDUwB7CE2hdOB3HLfo9zIzcT7Aug5qmPZE4Bo2tco3r1xj0TqSjJL6Z94LZqjaNzdONvCrL0AT_IT3zrVjbIVr9Ui5Uq3dJasSMPw==&c=_1S9h1nql4jmrKUxa2YHS4I9sfQxQs5cAqXWn4D8gSuV-LGr9N7nKQ==&ch=VbPrI5CX26vq1CNaeaSVDsl08aR_aPIPlLUNt9z9TfOCLczrsIE1pw==] for more info. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forward this email http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?llr=uiezvfkab&m=1110439661844&ea=$submit@theautochannel.com$&a=1124577911412 This email was sent to submit@theautochannel.com by rob@geigermediaglobal.com. 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