Charlotte, North Carolina is stock car country.

It is home to one of the most iconic ovals in the nation. It is home to NASCAR. It is synonymous with racing.

So in the true spirit of the home for all things racing, Tanner Gray is honoring his circle track days and the start of the NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship with a special retro paint scheme featuring a very NASCAR-like No. 15 in bold, block letters on the door. And so far, that new look is getting christened in the best way possible.

“It obviously means a lot to me,” Gray said of the new look on his Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro Pro Stock machine. “It’s always been my racing number and I just think it is something really cool that we did for here. It takes you back to my circle track days where they run the number on the door. Besides Bo’s (Butner) Dukes of Hazzard paint scheme, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Pro Stock car with a number on the door. So I think it is definitely something pretty cool with that, kind of, retro look. Hopefully we can win the championship with that look. That would be pretty cool.”

Gray got his championship chase off to a great start at the 10th annual NHRA Carolina Nationals, driving to his fourth No. 1 start of the season and third in the last four races with a 6.559-second pass at 210.50 mph that carried over from the cooler conditions Friday night at zMAX Dragway.

“I think they were pretty much set up for tomorrow with the track being hot. You are going to see a lot of the same tomorrow,” said Gray, who had the second and fifth quickest passes in two sessions on Saturday. “We pretty much were getting ready for tomorrow and at the same trying to get those little points. We feel pretty good about where we are.”

Greg Anderson qualified the Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro second with a 6.567 at 210.73 mph, while points leader Bo Butner qualified third with a 6.573 at 210.77 mph. Jason Line (6.578) and Chris McGaha (6.582) round out the top five.

As the Countdown to the Championship formally gets underway on Sunday with the first eliminations of the postseason, Gray is ready, but admits he is a bit nervous as he gets prepared for the most important rounds of his young career, beginning with his first round matchup with Val Smeland.

“A lot of these guys over here have done this for seven or eight years now, so they are used to it. I’m a little more nervous going into it,” Gray said. “It just means so much more than any other race. At the same time, I think I’m ready and I think it will be fun. I’m very confident with the car we’ve got and with how I’m driving so I’m excited. I don’t see any reason why we aren’t going to win Sunday.”