Johnny Gray's goal to continue making progress

May 31

 Johnny Gray hopes the continued improvement being made race-to-race by the Service Central Racing Funny Car team remains steady throughout this weekend’s 42nd annual NHRA SuperNationals here at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.

The 58-year-old Don Schumacher Racing driver enters the eighth race of the 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season believing his Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car has been getting better, even if all of the numbers are not favorable.

“We’re getting there,” said the Artesia, N.M., native and resident. “I see the light at the end of the tunnel, a point I think is coming within two or three races. We’re still fighting some issues, but I feel the car is performing better each time down the track and I feel pretty good about things.

“Lee Beard (crew chief) and the team have made some hardware revisions to help me, which bolsters my confidence. We’re all working together for the same thing and it will come. It’s all good.”

The Service Central team qualified a strong second two weeks ago in Topeka, then, in final eliminations, went to the semifinals on a hot and tricky track where he lost to eventual race-winner Robert Hight.

Gray believes what the team showed in qualifying, a 4.058-second lap at 307.23 miles per hour, is indicative of things to come.

“I’ve said all along, when this car gets going, it will be fast,” he explained. “We showed that at times in Topeka, especially in qualifying. If the conditions are right this weekend in Englishtown, we should be fast again.”

The combination of points earned during qualifying and on race day moved Gray into the ninth spot in the Funny Car standings, just under two rounds from the sixth spot in the tightly packed category.

Qualifying begins at 3:45 p.m. Friday for Pro Stock Motorcycles followed by Pro Stock (Gray’s son Shane, driving the Service Central Pro Stock Pontiac GXP for Gray Motorsports, won the Topeka race), Funny Cars and Top Fuel. A second qualifying round is scheduled for 6:15, with two additional ones beginning at noon Saturday and final eliminations at 11 a.m. Sunday.

ESPN2/ESPN2HD will provide an hour-and-a-half of qualifying highlights beginning at 5:30 p.m. EDT Saturday and a two-and-a-half-hour final-eliminations broadcast beginning at 4:30 Sunday.