Chevy Racing–NHRA–Brainerd

CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
LUCAS OIL NHRA NATIONALS
BRAINERD INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY AT BRAINERD, MINNESOTA
SUNDAY, AUG. 20, 2017

Chevrolet Continues Winning Streak, Record-Setting Funny Car Runs

• Rookie Tanner Gray earns fourth Pro Stock win of season
• Bo Butner is runner-up for fifth time, retains Pro Stock points lead
• Robert Hight sets Funny Car national record in Chevy Camaro
• Hight, John Force advance to the Funny Car semifinal round

BRAINERD, Minn. (Aug. 20, 2017) – National Hot Rod Association trophies earned by family members displayed at the Gray Motorsports shop in Denver, North Carolina, serve equally as recognition and incentive.

As Tanner Gray this week walks past the four Wallys he’s claimed through 17 races of his rookie Pro Stock season added to the collection, the 18-year-old driver will likely focus on the incentive aspect of the gold statues because he’s only getting started.

Gray, driving the Gray Motorsports Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro SS, defeated Bo Butner for the third time in a Pro Stock final to win the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota. The last first-year driver to win four races in a season was Jason Line in 2004. Line went on to become a three-time – and reigning – Pro Stock champion.

Chevrolet has won all 17 Pro Stock events this season, including the past four events by Gray Motorsports teammates Tanner Gray and Drew Skillman. The duo also has secured the No. 1 qualifier honor twice each the past four events.

“I’ve said it all week that these Gray Motorsports guys have definitely taken it to another level,” said Gray, who moved to second behind Butner in Pro Stock points with his class-leading four wins. “I can’t thank everybody enough – Chevrolet, Valvoline, my parents and grandparents. This is awesome. Maybe we can continue this in the Countdown and challenge for the championship.”

The Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals on Sept. 1-4 is the final event of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series regular season and features the Traxxas Nitro Shootout for Funny Car and Top Fuel competitors and the fourth round of the SAM Tech Factory Showdown. The six-race Countdown to the Championship follows.

Gray recorded a pass of 6.610 seconds at 208.04 mph to outdistance Butner’s 6.629 pass in the Jim Butner Auto Chevrolet Camaro SS. Butner, a three-time winner on the season, also has five runner-up finishes.

“We definitely have something going and it’s clicking at the right time,” Gray added.
Gray defeated Line (Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS) in a semifinal, while Butner advanced when KB Racing teammate and three-time Brainerd winner Greg Anderson (Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS) tripped the red light.

Shane Gray (Gray Motorsports Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro SS), Eric Enders (Melling Performance/Elite Chevrolet Camaro SS), and 2016 Brainerd winner Drew Skillman (Ray Skillman Auto Chevrolet Camaro SS) were first-round winners.

Robert Hight blistered the Funny Car national elapsed time record in qualifications on the way to earning the No. 1 qualifier honor for the third successive event in the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS. Hight’s pass of 3.793 seconds at 338.00 mph was the first sub-3.8-second run in NHRA Funny Car history and came on the heels of Hight’s record-setting 339.87 mph pass at Sonoma Raceway three weeks earlier.

With his first-round elimination victory, Hight joined five other Funny Car drivers with 400 career round wins. He won a quarterfinal match-up with class points leader Ron Capps, but fell in the semifinals.

John Force also advanced to the semifinals in the PEAK Coolant & Motor Oil Chevrolet Camaro SS, falling to eventual event winner Alexis Dejoria. Force, an 11-time winner at Brainerd, was the No. 3 qualifier. Courtney Force, driving the Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS, qualified No. 4 and won her first-round race day match. She fell in the quarterfinals.

Brittany Force, the No. 2 Top Fuel qualifier in the Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster, won her first-round elimination match-up but lost on a holeshot to class points leader Antron Brown in the quarterfinals. The pairing was a rematch of last year’s Brainerd final, which Force won.

Force’s pass of 3.675 seconds was better than her top qualifying elapsed time (3.685), and beat Brown’s 3.681-second run. Brown’s reaction time was .050 of a second compared to Force’s .060, and he won by four-thousandths of a second.

Dustin Nelson of New London, Minnesota, and Dan Fletcher of Churchville, New York, advanced to the third round of Stock Eliminator competition to lead four Chevrolet COPO Camaro drivers. Richard Bierie of Acworth, Georgia, was the top qualifier at 25 of 74 entries.

FS1 will telecast live Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals qualifications from noon-2 p.m. and 5-7 p.m. ET Sept. 3. FS1 also will telecast eliminations from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Sept. 4 before FOX takes over at 1 p.m.

Courtney Force took the $100,000 check for winning the Funny Car round of the Traxxas Nitro Shootout in 2016 at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Chris McGaha claimed the Pro Stock victory in his Harlow Sammons of Odessa Chevrolet Camaro SS. Bo Butner was the No. 1 qualifier.

ROGER ALLEN, CHEVROLET RACING NHRA PROGAM MANAGER: “Congratulations to Tanner Gray for winning the fourth race of what is shaping up to be a record rookie season in Pro Stock for the young man driving the Chevrolet Camaro SS and his Gray Motorsports team. Also, congratulations to Robert Hight and the Auto Club Of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS team for John Force Racing, who set the NHRA national elapsed time record three weeks after setting the speed record. Both are impressive accomplishments. After a week to prepare and likely participate in on-track testing, Chevrolet teams and drivers will compete in the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis – also known as the ‘Big Go.’ We’re looking forward to that exciting event.”

An interview with Pro Stock winner TANNER GRAY, GRAY MOTORSPORTS, VALVOLINE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier; fourth victory of the season; last rookie to win four in a season was Jason Line in 2004; moves to second in Pro Stock standings):

Q: WHAT DO YOU ATTRIBUTE YOUR BREAKOUT SEASON TO?

TANNER GRAY: All the guys on this car have been working hard here and at the shop. We have awesome power. I’ve said it all week that these Gray Motorsports guys have definitely taken it to another level. I can’t thank everybody enough – Chevrolet, Valvoline, my parents and grandparents. This is awesome. Maybe we can continue this in the Countdown and challenge for the championship.

Q: YOU SHOWED UP LOOKING FOR ROOKIE OF THE YEAR HONORS AND NOW THIS IS A CHAMPIONSHIP-CONTENDING TEAM.

TANNER GRAY: Absolutely. This has been an awesome car the last few races and the Gray Motorsports guys are making my job a lot easier. I’m just blessed to be sitting in the driver’s seat.

Q: THE NEXT RACE WILL HAVE YOU, YOUR FATHER AND GRANDFATHER ON THE TRACK AT THE SAME TIME.

TANNER GRAY: It will be a lot of fun. It will be the first time I get to race with my grandpa. I’ve got to race my dad over the years, but I’m really looking for to that. Hopefully, we can give my grandpa a good car so he could go out there and win the thing. That would be cool.

Q: WHAT DOES YOUR DAD SAY TO YOU? IS THERE A SET THING HE SAYS?

TANNER GRAY: It’s kind of different every time. He’s there for support, and on the final run he leaned in and said, ‘Stay calm, buddy.’ That’s what I try to do. Stay relaxed and focus on what I need to do. If you would have told me I would win four races my first year, I would have told you that you were crazy. We definitely have something going and it’s clicking at the right time.

Q: YOU BEAT ERICA (ENDERS) IN THE SECOND ROUND. WERE YOU CONCERNED AFTER SHE BEAT YOU EARLIER THIS YEAR?

TANNER GRAY: I took a different approach this weekend. I had been concerned about who was over in the other lane, how I’m going to stage against them, how I’m going to race them. To be honest, I think that’s what caused most of my mistakes. So I went up there and didn’t even pay attention to what she did. You know in the back of your mind you have to be good against her. When you go up against her, you have to be up on your toes. And that’s getting to be a big part of it.

Q: DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE TO LIVE UP TO THE GRAY NAME?

TANNER GRAY: I’m not a good loser and I came in to the deal to win. I never felt any pressure from my dad or grandpa to do anything. I only feel pressure from myself. This weekend, I had a consistent car and drove good and came home with the win.

Q: DOES YOUR SUCCESS AGAINST BO BUTNER GIVE YOU CONFIDENCE GOING INTO THE COUNTDOWN?

TANNER GRAY: Absolutely. I don’t think I’ve lost to him yet. But going in (final), I just tried to treat it just the way I did with Erica. You go up there and do your thing.