What's a 38-year-old drag-racing rookie supposed to feel like?
 
Shane Gray, who has two Pro Stock runner-up finishes on his resume, has been a bundle of contrasting emotions this season as driver of the Big O Tires Pontiac GXP.
 
Calling himself both "selfish" and "blessed," Gray has been what he described as "nervous as all get-up," yet calm racing his father and even at the line against reigning champion and early-season dominator Mike Edwards.
 
With his runner-up finish at Brainerd, Gray improved two spots to the No. 6 position in the Countdown that starts next Thursday at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.
 


What's a 38-year-old drag-racing rookie supposed to feel like?
 
Shane Gray, who has two Pro Stock runner-up finishes on his resume, has been a bundle of contrasting emotions this season as driver of the Big O Tires Pontiac GXP.
 
Calling himself both "selfish" and "blessed," Gray has been what he described as "nervous as all get-up," yet calm racing his father and even at the line against reigning champion and early-season dominator Mike Edwards.
 
With his runner-up finish at Brainerd, Gray improved two spots to the No. 6 position in the Countdown that starts next Thursday at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.
 
That used to be a dream he didn't dare articulate. He called it an honor to race Greg Anderson and Jason Line: "I can remember in years past, sitting at home on Sunday evening, watching the Pro Stocks on TV and wondering if I'd ever get to meet [the drivers], much less get to race them."
 
He said all season long, he has checked "to make sure that I'm not in a daze or a dream.”
 
Now it's reality, and Gray didn't express any nervousness -- only delight and appreciation.
 
"Back in February, I was hoping to just qualify at half the races," Gray said. "So to be in the position we are now is fantastic. And making the Countdown was something you didn't even talk or think about at that time. And now it's here and it's real. This is truly amazing and some of the most fun I've ever had.
 
"I really feel blessed to be where we're at," he said. "There's a lot of key people who have put me in this position: Orland Wolford and Lynn Parker of TBC Retail Group, the NTB, Tire KZingdom and Big O Tires company, Craig Hankinson, Jon Yates, Jim Yates, and everybody back at the engine shop.
 
"Then there's my dad, my mom, my wife, Amber, and our boys (Bryce, Tanner, and Taylor). They have all been key players in the making of my success, and I couldn't do it without any of them," he said. "I need to thank my mother and dad for putting me in this position . . . and my very competitive, loving, caring wife for being right here and pushing me. My mother and father have put me in this position because they believe in me." Amber, he said, "is as competitive as or more than I am, so it takes a combination of both of us to keep me whipped up into shape.
 
"I'm so lucky to have this opportunity," he said.
 
He has made the most of it, showing a steeliness uncommon even for an older rookie pro driver.
 
When he faced current champion Mike Edwards in the rain-delayed Englishtown final -- even after waiting overnight for a Monday conclusion -- Gray had thought it out and accepted his runner-up finish as motivation.
 
"When I went up against Mike, my only strategy was not to worry about him and just do my thing and run my own race," Gray said that Monday. "Mike made a great run. He was better on the tree, and he was better on the track. That's why he's the champ. But I do believe that we'll get there someday."
 
Against his father, seasoned pro driver Johnny Gray, he said he has been relaxed. Three times this season they have met, most recently in the semifinal round at Brainerd. Shane won that one, just as he did in June at Englishtown. He also beat his dad in the opening round at Sonoma.
 
In the Englishtown semifinal, Shane Gray 's 6.656-second elapsed time defeated Johnny's 6.669. The margin of victory was 0.0378 seconds, or about four yards.
 
'I was probably the calmest going up against my dad. I knew he would be tough and that he wasn't going to cut me any slack," Gray said. "But I wasn't nervous, because well, he's my dad. It was just plain fun."
 
Finally, during qualifying at Brainerd, even though the father-son side-by-side wasn't an elimination match-up, Johnny Gray got that moment of satisfaction, getting to the finish line before his son. He said, "I finally outran that blasted kid."
 
Truth is, Johnny Gray is button-bursting proud. And he said he'll do what he can to hekp his son earn the Auto Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award that recognizes the NHRA's top pro rookie racer.
 
"I've been to a few finals in my life," the elder Gray said at Englishtown. "And I've never been that nervous. Shane did a really good job, and I can't tell you how proud I am of him, his team, and our whole group. I've done this for a long time -- 38 years, to be exact. And it's all about Shane this year.
 
"I'm very, very proud of Shane," Johnny Gray has said on more than one occasion, adding that he knows his son soon will get a Wally statue. "He came real close to getting one, so he's going to get there. I promise you he's going to win a race real soon."
 
He had an inkling that Shane would perform well, saying after his son's licensing procedure and preseason testing, "He's driving the car well, and he's paying attention to what everybody is telling him. It's an awful lot for someone that's never done this, to absorb, especially in a short period of time."
 
But he said he thought, in retrospect, that he had thrown Shane into the deep end of the pool without floaties: "We really weren't fair to him. Over the winter, we planned to do a lot of testing and having a lot of laps under his belt before we took him to a national event. But he'll handle it fine, I don't have any qualms with it. He will be just fine."
 
Father knows best. So does Shane Gray's car chief, Mike Earle, who said, "He's hard on himself, but he's doing a great job."
 
Shane Gray agreed. "Every time I go out, I do my very best and of course, I expect to be perfect," he said. "So when things don't go exactly the way they should, I'm pretty hard on myself. But I do know that the more laps I get, the better I'll get. I look around and expect to be as good as everyone else out there. I have to remember that I'm going up against guys that have been doing this for years and have won races and championships. That takes a lot of hard work and practice. I love driving Pro Stock so I'm willing to work as hard as possible, but I probably need to work on my patience along with my driving skills."
 
Terry Gray, Johnny's wife and Shane's mother, stands between the two lanes when her "boys" go against each other. "I didn't want to pick one over the other," she said but admitted that it's "so exciting to see the two go against each other." For her, she said, "We're having a great time and enjoying our kids and grandkids being with us all the time, so it's fun. And it's extra exciting when you do well."
 
As if racing together, crisscrossing the country from February through November, weren't enough, Johnny Gray and sons Shane and Jonathan have made great strides in building not only a two-car team but also their own engine program at the shop at Denver, N.C.
 
"We've put so much together in a short time," Gray said. "Right now, we're in the beginning stages of our engine program, and as with any new business it's tough. We have to get it organized and get it up to where it's making good horsepower for the class. We're hoping that it will be a long time deal and that in the very near future we'll have championship contending cars and engines."
 
For Shane Gray, this drag racing venture I serious business, serious enough to uproot his family and move everyone from Artesia, N.M., to North Carolina.
 
"'I'm blessed by God that I have a wonderful wife, Amber, that is my best friend and also allows me to do this. She supports me 100 percent and is kind of my mentor in the deal, poking me along with a sharp stick to keep up my confidence and keep things rolling," he said.
 
"My wife and my children have to put up with a lot when it comes to my racing, from moving away from the only home they've ever known to my being absent from games, school activities, birthdays, quality time, and everything else," Gray said.
 
"It's a very selfish sport that I choose, but luckily I have wonderful parents and wife that allow me to be selfish and do this. All I've ever wanted to drive is a Pro Stocker," he said. "So every time I strap into my car I'm happy and excited to be living my dream."
 
Maybe along the way he can be a nightmare for his opponents, too. Ideally, that's how any rookie drag racer would want to feel.