Former NHRA Champion Tanner Gray Earns First NASCAR Win
Tanner Gray, No. 15 Gray Motorsports / Valvoline / Durst Toyota Camry
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (May 6, 2019) — Former NHRA Pro Stock Champion, Tanner Gray, earned his first NASCAR victory over the weekend as he took the checkered flag in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Twin No. 1 at South Boston (Va.) Speedway. The win also marked DGR-Crosley’s first K&N Pro Series victory of the 2019 season.
Gray, who transitioned from NHRA to stock car racing in 2019 is seeing early success with his new team, DGR-Crosley. It only took Gray and his No. 15 Gray Motorsports/Valvoline Toyota team four races together to get their first win of the season. Gray is no stranger to Victory Lane, as he saw a plethora of success in a drag car winning a Championship and 11 Pro Stock National events over the last two seasons, but this weekend’s win was special to Gray now that he has shifted his focus to NASCAR for the longevity of his career.
In his first race at South Boston Speedway, Gray and his No. 15 Toyota Camry had a strong start to the weekend after posting the fastest time in the opening practice session at the 0.4-mile track. He continued that positive momentum into qualifying where he earned his first-career Pole Award by posting a time of 14.977-seconds. In overtime of the WhosYourDriver.org Twin 100 race, Gray went head to head with Sam Mayer on the restart. Gray pulled away in the last lap to gain his first NASCAR career victory after leading a career-high 79 laps.
The second race was postponed to Sunday afternoon when rain moved into the area Saturday night. Gray went on to finish fourth in the second WhosYourDriver.org Twin 100. A replay of Gray’s victory will air on NBCSN on May 8, at 6 p.m., ET. The second Twin 100 will air on May 9 at 6 p.m., ET on NBSCN. ‘
Gray on South Boston: “Man, this is awesome. It feels so good to get that first win. I’m really competitive, and I’ve been wanting to get this Camry to Victory Lane. It wouldn’t be possible without all the guys at DGR-Crosley working hard in the shop. They work their butts off for us and always bring great cars to the race track for me. I felt like I’ve been letting them down lately, so it feels really great to see them all in Victory Lane.
It’s funny that it’s my fourth K&N race. I won my fourth Pro Stock race as well, so that’s kind of funny. Had a lot of fun, it was really cool racing with Sam [Mayer] there at the end.”
Sources: Summer Stephens/DGR-Crosley PR