NHRA LAS VEGAS

Pro Stock ace Shane Gray ready to 

hit Las Vegas jackpot

LAS VEGAS (March 30) -- Progress can be slow and tedious for many race teams across all forms of motorsports, but perhaps nowhere is it as measured as in the Pro Stock class of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.   That's what Shane Gray and his Valvoline/Nova Services team are facing as they prepare for the Denso Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals this weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.   Changes to the Pro Stock class -- fuel-injected engines and shorter wheelie bars -- have changed the dynamics of competition as some teams have come out quicker than others. The Gray Motorsports team continues to work on improvement, and a recent test at Rockingham Dragway in North Carolina has Gray excited for Las Vegas.   "We're making progress," Gray said. "We went to Rockingham and had an awesome test. Obviously, testing is not racing; we've proved that for the last couple of years. We usually win the test.   "But I feel pretty good about the car this weekend. I think it's going to run really well. I'm going to go there, have a good time, and have a little bit different mindset."   That mindset? Taking care of business.   "We're going there in race mode," Gray said. "We're going to go there, grit our teeth, and see if we can't win something."   The four-time NHRA national event winner is also entered in the K&N Horsepower Challenge this weekend. The Challenge is a special Pro Stock-only race based on qualifying points since the 2015 event.   Gray is the No. 6 seed and will race No. 3 Jason Line in the first round Saturday, which also coincides as the third qualifying session for the regular national event.   "I'd love to win that thing," Gray said. "It'll be interesting to see what the trophy looks like this year because that hood scoop was cool. Maybe they'll give us a fuel-injected manifold.   "Everybody better have their stuff together to outrun the Summit cars. I think the only way anyone is going to outrun the Summit cars is to capitalize on one of their mistakes at the starting line or the finish line. If they don't make any mistakes, we're going to be in trouble. They're definitely on top of the class at the moment, but everybody's got to be in front of somebody."