Valvoline/Nova Services pro Shane Gray falls in Denver first round

DENVER – In the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, everything has to work perfectly in order to win a race or even a round.

Valvoline/Nova Services pro Shane Gray found that out the hard way in the first round of the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals on Sunday at Bandimere Speedway.

His Gray Motorsports Chevrolet made a solid pass in the first round against Chris McGaha, 6.992 seconds at 198.12 mph. That was the fourth-quickest run of the round, so clearly the car, crew, and engine performed well. But Gray had a misstep behind the wheel and ended up losing on a holeshot.

“The driver just didn’t get the job done today,” Gray said. “No excuses. Chris just did a better job today, and congrats to him. We’ll try again next week.”

McGaha pulled a strong .008-second reaction time, getting an immediate .053-second lead that Gray couldn’t overcome. McGaha, who had a .087 light in the second round, beat Gray with a slower pass of 7.025 seconds at 196.22 mph.

Still, Gray and his team had a solid weekend, qualifying No. 3. Plus, Gray Motorsports engines powered Alex Laughlin to the No. 1 spot for the first time in the young driver’s career.

“The car is running great,” Gray said. “We felt like we needed to come here and test, and we all ran pretty well up here in the altitude. I’m so proud of Alex and Craig (Hankinson) and all the Gas Monkey guys for getting that No. 1 spot. That’s two in a row for our engines, and the guys in our engine shop should be proud of that.”

Gray now heads to Sonoma Raceway next weekend for the Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals.

“The good thing is we don’t have much time to hang our heads, and I know our guys won’t,” Gray said. “(Crew chief) Dave (Connolly) has done a great job with this car the last several races, and we know we can win rounds and win races with the power we have, too. All the guys have worked hard and done a great job. It’s up to the driver now.”