South Florida's Gray has short trip to track with long list of 2011 accomplishments at DSR

January 17

BROWNSBURG, Ind. (Jan. 17, 2012) - A little more than a year ago, Johnny Gray's Service Central Funny Car team at Don Schumacher Racing was little more than a plan.

That was on Nov. 30, 2010 and the team didn't have a tool let alone a crew.

But the new team had key elements: Gray and sponsor Service Central.

The result of the team's inaugural 2011 season success is an answer to a great Countdown for the Championship trivia question: What was the hottest NHRA Funny Car in last year's Countdown for the Championship in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series?

It's Gray and crew chief Rob Wendland.

Their Service Central Dodge Charger R/T is the only Funny Car that advanced to the semifinal round in five of the six Countdown races and was runner-up three times.

They just missed earning one of the 10 playoff spots by finishing 11th in points after the first 16 events. Had they slipped into the top-10, Gray would have finished the year ranked second.

"We sure would like to start off this year the way we finished last year," Gray said. "I really like my team. It's just fun to be around the guys."

Gray, 58, lives about 20 miles from Palm Beach International Raceway in Jupiter, Fla., where his team is testing this week. He is confident going in to the year and Wendland marvels at what the team was able to accomplish.

Wendland took over crew chief duties after the 10th race of the past season in Norwalk, Ohio. The team quickly began making strides. Five events later at Brainerd, Minn., Gray and won his first NHRA professional title when he beat teammate Ron. Four races later, they won the pole at Reading, Pa., and advanced to the championship round.

Wendland plans to unveil a new chassis and body this week in Florida, possibly during Friday and Saturday's runs in the PRO Winter Warm-Up at PBIR.

"This off-season has been a lot different than a year ago," Wendland said.

"For one thing, we know where to find all of our Matco tools in the trailer."

About Service Central

Service Central® is the automotive service offered exclusively at Tire Kingdom®, NTB-National Tire and Battery®, Merchant's Tire and Auto®, and Big O Tires®. Available at more than 1,300 locations, the certified ASE technicians use state-of-the art equipment to provide quality service.

About Don Schumacher Racing

Don Schumacher Racing, headquartered in Brownsburg, Ind., consists of seven professional NHRA teams: in Top Fuel, the U.S. Army dragster driven by seven-time world champion Tony Schumacher, the FRAM/Prestone dragster of Spencer Massey and the Matco Tools dragster of Antron Brown; and in Funny Car, 2011 NHRA Funny Car champion Matt Hagan in the Aaron's Dream Machine/Mopar Dodge Charger R/T, Valvoline NextGen Dodge piloted by Jack Beckman, the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge of Ron Capps and the Service Central Dodge of Johnny Gray. DSR has won 174 NHRA national event titles and nine world championships.