JOHNNY GRAY TO FIELD TWO CAR TEAM WITH IN-HOUSE ENGINE PROGRAM IN 2010
Sat, 2009-10-03 17:28
Johnny Gray confirmed on Saturday during the NHRA Midsouth Nationals that he will race in 2010 with a two-car Pontiac team powered with an in-house engine program based in Denver, NC. This will end a one-year engine lease program with Allen Johnson.
The second car will be driven by his son Shane Gray. They younger Gray presently competes in NHRA’s Competition eliminator.
“It was an economic decision along with a performance decision,” Gray said. “I feel like with the economy in the shape it’s in and the teams that are falling out, and my economics where they are, I need to either make this work or not. The only way I can do that is to jump out there and put my own engine program in … rent motors to try and get some of my money back ... if I am to continue to do this because there is no sponsorship at this point. Johnny Gray confirmed on Saturday during the NHRA Midsouth Nationals that he will race in 2010 with a two-car Pontiac team powered with an
in-house engine program based in Denver, NC. This will end a one-year engine lease program with Allen Johnson.
The second car will be driven by his son Shane Gray. They younger Gray presently competes in NHRA’s Competition eliminator.
“It was an economic decision along with a performance decision,” Gray said. “I feel like with the economy in the shape it’s in and the teams that are falling out, and my economics where they are, I need to either make this work or not. The only way I can do that is to jump out there and put my own engine program in … rent motors to try and get some of my money back ... if I am to continue to do this because there is no sponsorship at this point.
“A lot of teams are dropping out and to be point blank, we didn’t run good enough at the beginning of the year to get any sponsorship. Basically we feel like the only chance we have of staying out here long term is to get out and put our own program in and rent some of these engines out to get the money back that I gave some of these other teams.”
Veteran engine builder Joe Hornick will spearhead the new in-house engine program and has supplemented his knowledge with Bob Renaldi, formerly with Jack Roush and circle track engine specialist Dennis Fisher.
Gray said his engine shop will be assembling personnel and accepting resumes in the near future.
“As we speak we are purchasing dynos and CNC equipment,” said Gray. “We are buying all of the paraphernalia to put in an engine shop. We have ordered blocks and heads from General Motors.”
Jerry Haas is also building two Pontiac GXPs for Gray.
“My crew will stay on board but we are also exploring the possibilities of adding a crew chief or two as well as a couple more hands,” Gray said.
The big question is whether this parting is amicable. Gray and Johnson had a two-year agreement on the engine program.
“There’s a little stress there, and I think Allen is a little disappointed that we had an original deal for two years,” Gray said. “My program was not up to standards all the way up through Sonoma, we’re both adults. It’s just one of those things that didn’t work. The Johnson’s are good people and I would like to remain good friends. It’s just a situation where if you’re renting a motor, you don’t have the No. 1 or you don’t think you have the No. 1. I don’t know what to say other than our deal didn’t work for more than one reason.
“Basically the economics and the oil and gas prices where they are, I’ve got to figure a way to put this situation where it doesn’t lose money. The only way to do that is put my own engine program in place, get some rental engines and recoup some of my money.”
Johnson said that he and Gray will conduct themselves as adults but points out the two had a deal for two years.
“We signed on for a two year deal and there may be a problem,” said Johnson, opting not to divulge on what the problem might be. “We’re going to finish out the year as positive as we can. Hopefully he can do well the rest of the season; we’ve given him the best we can give him this year. We have a two year deal and that’s what we structured our deal around.”
This season has seen a number of engine renting teams embark on new in-house engine programs. Johnson believes engine rentals are still a good way to go fast and be competitive.
“He [Gray] is probably going to spend twice of what he was spending with me and likely isn’t going to go any faster,” Johnson said. “If you’ve got a program like ours where you have the same equipment, it’s really a bargain for those leasing the equipment. A lot of good things come into play.
“Mike [Edwards] and Krisher [Ron, his engine lease customer] are a prime example. Krisher has just as good of a motor as Mike has, but doesn’t run as good. People make their own decisions and it’s hard to get them where you are at. That’s a lot of the problem. He [Gray] didn’t believe that he was getting the same as I had and that’s bull. He just wasn’t making good runs. I don’t know. It’s hard to have a program where everybody’s happy.
“We’ve already been through our tensions and had our words, everybody’s cool with it now. We should be fine until the end of the season.”
The second car will be driven by his son Shane Gray. They younger Gray presently competes in NHRA’s Competition eliminator.
“It was an economic decision along with a performance decision,” Gray said. “I feel like with the economy in the shape it’s in and the teams that are falling out, and my economics where they are, I need to either make this work or not. The only way I can do that is to jump out there and put my own engine program in … rent motors to try and get some of my money back ... if I am to continue to do this because there is no sponsorship at this point. Johnny Gray confirmed on Saturday during the NHRA Midsouth Nationals that he will race in 2010 with a two-car Pontiac team powered with an
Johnny Gray will branch out on his own with an in-house engine program headed by Joe Hornick. He will also field a two-car Pontiac team with son Shane.
The second car will be driven by his son Shane Gray. They younger Gray presently competes in NHRA’s Competition eliminator.
“It was an economic decision along with a performance decision,” Gray said. “I feel like with the economy in the shape it’s in and the teams that are falling out, and my economics where they are, I need to either make this work or not. The only way I can do that is to jump out there and put my own engine program in … rent motors to try and get some of my money back ... if I am to continue to do this because there is no sponsorship at this point.
“A lot of teams are dropping out and to be point blank, we didn’t run good enough at the beginning of the year to get any sponsorship. Basically we feel like the only chance we have of staying out here long term is to get out and put our own program in and rent some of these engines out to get the money back that I gave some of these other teams.”
Veteran engine builder Joe Hornick will spearhead the new in-house engine program and has supplemented his knowledge with Bob Renaldi, formerly with Jack Roush and circle track engine specialist Dennis Fisher.
Gray said his engine shop will be assembling personnel and accepting resumes in the near future.
“As we speak we are purchasing dynos and CNC equipment,” said Gray. “We are buying all of the paraphernalia to put in an engine shop. We have ordered blocks and heads from General Motors.”
Jerry Haas is also building two Pontiac GXPs for Gray.
“My crew will stay on board but we are also exploring the possibilities of adding a crew chief or two as well as a couple more hands,” Gray said.
The big question is whether this parting is amicable. Gray and Johnson had a two-year agreement on the engine program.
“There’s a little stress there, and I think Allen is a little disappointed that we had an original deal for two years,” Gray said. “My program was not up to standards all the way up through Sonoma, we’re both adults. It’s just one of those things that didn’t work. The Johnson’s are good people and I would like to remain good friends. It’s just a situation where if you’re renting a motor, you don’t have the No. 1 or you don’t think you have the No. 1. I don’t know what to say other than our deal didn’t work for more than one reason.
“Basically the economics and the oil and gas prices where they are, I’ve got to figure a way to put this situation where it doesn’t lose money. The only way to do that is put my own engine program in place, get some rental engines and recoup some of my money.”
Johnson said that he and Gray will conduct themselves as adults but points out the two had a deal for two years.
“We signed on for a two year deal and there may be a problem,” said Johnson, opting not to divulge on what the problem might be. “We’re going to finish out the year as positive as we can. Hopefully he can do well the rest of the season; we’ve given him the best we can give him this year. We have a two year deal and that’s what we structured our deal around.”
This season has seen a number of engine renting teams embark on new in-house engine programs. Johnson believes engine rentals are still a good way to go fast and be competitive.
“He [Gray] is probably going to spend twice of what he was spending with me and likely isn’t going to go any faster,” Johnson said. “If you’ve got a program like ours where you have the same equipment, it’s really a bargain for those leasing the equipment. A lot of good things come into play.
“Mike [Edwards] and Krisher [Ron, his engine lease customer] are a prime example. Krisher has just as good of a motor as Mike has, but doesn’t run as good. People make their own decisions and it’s hard to get them where you are at. That’s a lot of the problem. He [Gray] didn’t believe that he was getting the same as I had and that’s bull. He just wasn’t making good runs. I don’t know. It’s hard to have a program where everybody’s happy.
“We’ve already been through our tensions and had our words, everybody’s cool with it now. We should be fine until the end of the season.”
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