Johnny Gray did just as he planned in qualifying at the 29^th annual Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.  The talented driver of the NTB, National Tire and Battery Pro Stock secured his place in the Countdown to 1 playoffs.  And while he was at it, made some of the best runs of the class and qualified in the lofty No. 2 position.

Friday’s qualifying was marred by rain and there was only one session.  Gray’s 6.723 at 205.16 mph was the third quickest run of the day.  Saturday was a beautiful day for racing with ideal conditions.  Gray encountered some handling issues on his first run but still ran an impressive 6.674 at 206.57.  Then on his last qualifying effort, Gray put everyone on notice with the quickest run of the session and the second quickest of the day.  Gray posted a 6.652 at 206.61 mph.

“I really don’t know what to say,” expressed Gray.  “The NTB car ran exceptionally well this weekend.  I was a little concerned coming in because the guys stopped to test on the way here and they wounded my favorite motor.  So we pulled it out when we got here and put this one in, and now I have new favorite motor.  We had a great time qualifying. 

“We should have run better in the first round today but the car kind of climbed the tire and went a little left toward the wall and that cost us a little bit.  So we really felt that if the weather conditions stayed the same and we got a little break, we could make a pretty decent run on the last pass in the right lane.  We really weren’t looking for that (6.653) to be honest with you but we’ll take it.  And then to sew up our spot in the playoffs while running so well makes it even more fun.”

To Gray there was an added benefit to his last run.  The car in the other lane was his teammate and son, rookie Shane Gray.  The two have been next to each other about a half a dozen times this year between qualifying and eliminations.  And with their competitive racer nature, each time they’ve had contests as to which one would win, which usually was the rookie.  Today, things changed and by making the second quickest run of the session, the senior Gray out ran his son.

“I really feel good about our last pass.  The car ran good and I finally out ran that blasted kid,” declared Gray.

Tomorrow morning Gray will have lane choice over his first round opponent, the No. 15 qualifier, Warren Johnson.  There has appeared to be a slight difference in the two lanes, but Gray’s NTB Pontiac didn’t seem to mind the difference.  So, with a little luck, things will continue to go Gray’s way and it will be a great race day.

Four-time Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. will face fellow Ohioan Ron Krisher in the opening round of this weekend’s 29th annual Lucas Oil Nationals, the final regular season event of the NHRA season.

Coughlin waited until the last of three qualifying sessions to make the field at Brainerd International Raceway. Handling the pressure with ease, Coughlin responded with a 6.684 at 205.57 mph to earn the No. 12 slot for his JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt. Krisher did slightly better, running a 6.660 at 207.56 mph to earn lane choice against Coughlin.

“Drama, drama, drama,” Coughlin said of making the cut in the final session. “We came in here with a new motor, which isn’t unusual for us, and we ran pretty well in Q1. I think we were seventh overall and had the sixth-best speed.

“We knew the next round would be better with the engine sealed up completely and it was. The only problem was the car went dead left towards the wall and I had to fight to save the run. We still improved, somehow, just not as much as we had hoped we would.

“It came down to that final round and by the time we got up there we’d been bumped out so it was crucial to make it down the track. I just wanted the car to go straight because I knew if it did then we’d be quick enough to move up. We all know that what you should run and what you do run can be two different things. In the end, we got in the show and I really feel in my heart we have a top-five car so we’ll have a chance tomorrow.”

No matter what happens Sunday, Coughlin will enter the Countdown to the Championship, which begins at the next tour stop in Indianapolis, in the No. 3 position, which means he’ll be just 40 points off the Pro Stock lead. The NHRA resets the points for the top 10 drivers before the start of the playoffs and separates everyone by just 10 points each. The low qualifier from the regular season gets a 20-point bonus.

By their own admission, Jason Line and the Summit Racing team approached the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, MN with a dual purpose, looking to win the race while trying new components in preparation for the upcoming Countdown to One championship playoff.  Although showers on Friday curtailed their qualifying effort to only three attempts, they still made progress on every run, culminating with a 6.657-second, 206.61 pass on Saturday afternoon.  This earned the Wright, MN native the fourth starting position for Sunday’s final eliminations at Brainerd International Raceway, where he hopes to score what would be a most popular win, as many of his family members and childhood friends are in attendance.

“Our last run was certainly much better than the first two and showed that we are headed in the right direction with this Summit Racing Pontiac,” said Line.  “We’ve been testing a few things this weekend, with some working better than the others, but were still able to come back with a decent pass in the last session, so we’ll definitely have something to race tomorrow.  Now we just have to figure out how to get my teammate’s (defending race winner Greg Anderson) car sped up.

“This is a big race for me, coming back to my home state and racing with my family.  There may be a little extra pressure, but it would certainly be worth it if I was able to win.  My little brother Ben is still alive in Stock, and it would be fun to share the winner’s circle with him.”

Greg Stanfield registered his quickest qualifying effort in Saturday’s final Pro Stock qualifying session for Sunday’s Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd (Minn.) International Raceway and he will start 14th in eliminations.

Stanfield and crew chief Eddie Guarnaccia, who was making changes to the racing combination in each session, were pleased with the 6.688-second, 205.82-mph quarter-mile run in Kenny Koretsky’s Nitro Fish/Indicom Electric Pontiac GXP.  It was an improvement from a previous best of 6.758 seconds that came in Friday’s only session. Rain washed out the second run.

Stanfield squares off against Allen Johnson (No. 3, 6.654 at 208.07) in the opening round. 

“Things are looking better,” commented Guarnaccia.  “We ran a 6.694 on Saturday’s first run and I believe the car should run better Sunday.  Allen ran a 6.66 (seconds) on the final run and we ran a 6.68,” added Guarnaccia.  “But we didn’t make a good run.  We’ll see what happens Sunday.”

Stanfield is attempting to hold onto seventh place in the Countdown to 1.  He clinched a berth last month in Denver.  The eighth-place driver is 11 points behind (773-762).

After qualifying for the professional classes at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, MN was shortened to a total of just three attempts by rain on Friday, teams were sent scrambling to find the proper tune-up.  Further complicating their assignment were cooler temperatures on Saturday, requiring significant improvement in order to simply qualify.  Among those working to dial in their race car was Greg Anderson and the Summit Racing team. 

Although their 6.680-second, 205.16 mph best in the morning session was good enough for the ninth starting position, the two-time and defending BIR winner knew his KB Racing crew would need to find some answers if they were to repeat their winning performance from a year ago, and started the investigative process immediately following the third and final qualifying session.

“We’re trying to find the right engine tune-up for this Summit Racing Pontiac,” said Anderson.  “The car is making good runs, but for some reason the motor just won’t run.  We’ve been trying different things, but have yet to find the answer.  Fortunately, we were able to get Jason’s  (teammate Line) ride straightened out, so we’ll have to look at his data, see what we can learn and apply to my car. 

“It’s frustrating, but we’re not about to throw in the towel.  We’ll go over our notes and see what we find, and come up with a game plan for tomorrow.  We certainly have our work cut out for us if we are going to successfully defend our win from last year, but this team is certainly up to the challenge.”