Shane Gray makes first runs in new Pro Stock configuration

BRADENTON, FL – Shane Gray and his Gray Motorsports team became the first operation to make a full pass in the new Pro Stock configuration when Gray’s Chevrolet Camaro tested this week at Bradenton Motorsports Park.

NHRA has mandated several rules changes for 2016, including using fuel-injected engines with a rev limit of 10,500 rpm and shorter wheelie bars. All the changes, Gray said after the second of four days of testing, have definitely affected the class.

“Well, it’s slow,” Gray said. “I think it’s about 5 mph off and at least a tenth off of last year’s stuff. I think it’s maybe a tenth to 15-hundredths off of last year’s stuff. Right, in the present position we’re in, realistically, it’s 14-, 15-hundredths off and about 5 mph down.”

Gray is using his Camaro from last season, which has been upgraded to 2016 specs. He wasn’t surprised with the slowdown in speed, as his pass Tuesday was 6.64 seconds at 208.47 mph.

“I sort of suspected it,” Gray said. “I expected it to run a little bit more speed than it did. Shoot, man, we’ve got miles and miles to go with this stuff. The drivability of it — I don’t want to sound negative — but let’s just say it’s laughable and tricky. The drivability on the starting line is definitely a handful.”

Gray was conservative in the first couple of burnouts he attempted, knowing the car would be different.

“I was real cautious with it because I didn’t know if the throttle was going to return at the finish line,” Gray said. “You wonder with all this stuff, but today we got it all the way to the finish line. Everything works fine, and the throttle returns back to idle. It’s safe; it’s just tricky and slow.”

The staging process, which has been the same for many years in Pro Stock, has changed, too.

“The burnout is very, very tricky,” Gray said. “The staging procedure is really tricky. You can’t really give it any throttle staging it. You have to stage the thing at idle because if you start to give it any input on the throttle, then it changes the mapping and starts putting a bunch of fuel in the motor.

“If you try to give it throttle to stage it, it will just flood itself and die.”

Gray said another change for 2016, the removal of hood scoops, did not have much effect on him.

“I really didn’t even notice it much,” Gray said. “But I’m kind of a taller guy, so that wasn’t much of an issue before.”

Gray has made two 330-foot passes, a couple of half-track runs, and the single full pass. He and the team will test Wednesday and Thursday at Bradenton before heading back to the team’s shop in Denver, N.C.

“Maybe by tomorrow we’ll have a little better handle on what we’re looking at,” Gray said, “but right now Pro Stock has slowed way down.”