Johnny Gray Announces Return To Funny Car With DSR

There has been much speculation since the 2010 NHRA season came to a close in Pomona as to the plans of drag racing journeyman Johnny Gray for the new year. Last season, Gray invested heavily in a Pro Stock engine program that paid dividends, as both he and son Shane qualified for the Countdown to the Championship, culminating with a win at Pomona by the younger Gray. But as the season wound to a close, everything seemed to be pointing to Johnny’s depature from Pro Stock to return to Funny Car, further fueled by a comment in which DSR Team Manager Lee Beard was referred to as “his new boss.”

Well that speculation can now be laid to rest, as Gray has announced that he will in fact return to Funny Car in 2011 where he’ll field a Service Central Racing-backed Dodge for Don Schumacher Racing on the entire NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series tour. Gray competed in the Funny Car category from 1999 to 2004 and again in 2006, when he drove a handful of races for Schumacher.

Quoted from NHRA.com: “It’s been great driving Pro Stock, but it was time to move up into Funny Car for added exposure, and we decided Don Schumacher Racing was the way to go,” said Gray. “I had driven a Funny Car for Don several years ago [six races in 2004] and knew his was the right organization for our program. Lee Beard [team crew chief] and I get along real well and always have. This looks like it was meant to be.”

Gray will continue his marketing partnership with the TBC Retail Group on the venture. The Service Central brand – which operates under the TBC umbrella – is the automotive service offered exclusively at Tire Kingdom, National Tire and Battery, Merchants Tire and Auto, and Big O Tires stores nationwide. Schumacher believes that combining the veteran driver that’s driven nearly everything with wheels on it with the leadership and tuning talent of Lee Beard should make for a formidable challenger for the 2011 Funny Car title. “Johnny brings great driving experience,” said Schumacher. “We believe DSR, with Lee in the lead, can provide him and Service Central with the ability to move into the top tier of the Funny Car category.

“We are very proud to add the Service Central, Tire Kingdom, NTB – National Tire and Battery, Merchant’s Tire and Auto Centers, and Big O Tires to the list of sponsors who support Don Schumacher Racing and were excited to have Johnny back in a DSR Funny Car.”