Defending NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock champion Tanner Gray (No. 54 Valvoline/Durst Toyota) made his ARCA Menards Series debut at Five Flags Speedway. Despite finishing 12th in his debut effort, Gray came away from the race wanting more.
Gray started eighth and moved up one position on the start, but then settled back into the tenth position for most of the opening quarter of the race. He lost a position on pit road during the first caution of the night, and then settled into the 13th position for most of the mid stages of the race. He moved up to twelfth right before the second and final caution of the night when he came to pit road for his second round of adjustments.
Back on the track under green, Gray came alive. He ran his fastest lap of the race seven laps after the final restart, an 18.061-second lap that was within a quarter of a second of the fastest lap any driver turned in the race, a 17.713-second lap by race winner Michael Self.
Understandably, Gray was looking for more out of his debut race but saw the race as a good building block for his second series start scheduled at Toledo Speedway in May.
“I was disappointed with how the race in Pensacola went for us,” Gray said. “I felt like we were strong in practice and qualifying, but when the race rolled around, we really struggled. The car completely changed and we weren’t able to get it where it needed to be. I was looking forward to racing in Pensacola since we had a successful test there earlier this year and showed a lot of speed then, but unfortunately, it just didn’t go our way. We learned a lot as a team, and I’m going to get as much seat time as possible before our next ARCA race. I think I’ve got some late model races and K&N races before Salem, so the track time will be really valuable for us.”
Gray and the rest of the series return to action in the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA 200 at Salem Speedway. Practice is set for 11 am ET on Saturday, April 13, followed by General Tire Pole Qualifying at 3 pm ET. The 200-lap race is slated for Sunday, April 14 and will go green shortly after 2 pm ET. It will be televised live on MAVTV. ARCA for Me members can follow live timing & scoring throughout all on-track sessions at ARCARacing.com. New members can register for free by providing a valid email address at ARCARacing.com/login.
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