Tanner Gray
| Tanner Gray | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Gray in 2017 | |||||||
| Born | Tanner Shane Gray April 15, 1999 Artesia, New Mexico | ||||||
| Achievements | 2018 NHRA Pro Stock champion | ||||||
| NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career | |||||||
| 48 races run over 3 years | |||||||
| Truck no., team | No. 15 (David Gilliland Racing) | ||||||
| 2021 position | 18th | ||||||
| Best finish | 14th (2020) | ||||||
| First race | 2019 NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 (Martinsville) | ||||||
| Last race | 2021 Lucas Oil 150 (Phoenix) | ||||||
| |||||||
| Statistics current as of December 29, 2021. | |||||||
Tanner Shane Gray (born April 15, 1999) is an American professional racing driver who has competed in drag racing and stock car racing. He races full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 15 Ford F-150 for David Gilliland Racing. Gray is the youngest professional driver to win a national event in NHRA history, and the youngest driver to win an NHRA season championship.[1]
Racing career[]
Drag racing[]
2017 marked the first year for Gray racing in the Pro Stock class within the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series alongside his Father Shane Gray.
Gray made NHRA history 13 days before his 18th birthday at the 18th Annual Denso Spark Plug Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on April 2, 2017, by winning the final round against Bo Butner. He was 17 years, 11 months, and 18 days which was younger than 40-year record holder Jeb Allen, who was 18 years, 1 month, and 8 days.[1]
He won the 2017 Auto Club Road to the Future Award. The award is given to the top rookie from all of the sport's pro categories, including Pro Stock Motorcycle, Top Fuel and Funny Car.[2]
In 2018, Gray won 8 times en route to the Pro Stock title, becoming the youngest ever NHRA season champion.[3]
NASCAR[]
On September 25, 2018, Gray announced he would race in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East for DGR-Crosley in 2019.[4] The move came after Gray had met team owner David Gilliland in summer 2018.[5] He picked up his first win at South Boston Speedway in early May.[6]
In October 2019, Gray made his NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series debut with DGR-Crosley at Martinsville Speedway in the No. 15 Toyota Tundra; running a three-race schedule, he also competed in the ISM Raceway and Homestead–Miami Speedway events in the No. 7.[7][8]
On December 16, 2019, DGR-Crosley announced Gray would run full-time and for rookie of the year in the Truck Series in 2020, driving the team's No. 15 truck,[9] now a Ford F-150 after the team switched from Toyota to Ford in the offseason. In addition, the team announced he would continue to drive in the East Series, now the ARCA Menards Series East, part-time, as well as part-time in the big 20-race ARCA Menards Series,[10] where he would share the full-time No. 17 car with his younger brother Taylor (who ran the Sioux Chief Showdown races) and Anthony Alfredo.
Other racing[]
 | This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (February 2021) |
Gray has raced in different types of cars, including Late models, modifieds, Midget cars, and stock cars. He has raced on oval dirt tracks in the area of Mooresville, including racing in the Mini Outlaw Karts category alongside Kyle Larson and Rico Abreu on Wednesday nights at Millbridge Speedway in Salisbury.
Personal life[]
| This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (February 2021) |
Gray was born April 15, 1999, to professional drag racer and national event champion Shane Gray and his wife Amber of Artesia, New Mexico. He is the grandson of funny car and pro stock champion Johnny Gray, making Tanner a third-generation Gray to race in the NHRA. The Gray family moved from New Mexico to Mooresville, North Carolina in 2010 so that Shane Gray could pursue a career as a professional drag racer in the NHRA. Tanner's younger brother, Taylor Gray, is also a NASCAR and ARCA driver for DGR and currently competes full-time for them in the ARCA Menards Series East as well as part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, both in the No. 17 car. Taylor was involved in a single-car accident at Statesville, NC, which led to DGR regular Hailie Deegan and Tanner himself commemorate Taylor at Richmond.
Motorsports career results[]
NASCAR[]
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Camping World Truck Series[]
| NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | NCWTC | Pts | Ref | |||||||||||||||
| 2019 | DGR-Crosley | 15 | Toyota | DAY | ATL | LVS | MAR | TEX | DOV | KAN | CLT | TEX | IOW | GTW | CHI | KEN | POC | ELD | MCH | BRI | MSP | LVS | TAL | MAR 20 |
46th | 59 | [11] | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | PHO 17 |
HOM 16 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020 | 15 | Ford | DAY 23 |
LVS 8 |
CLT 20 |
ATL 11 |
HOM 12 |
POC 12 |
KEN 9 |
TEX 36 |
KAN 18 |
KAN 4 |
MCH 3 |
DAY 15 |
DOV 17 |
GTW 10 |
DAR 29 |
RCH 16 |
BRI 3 |
LVS 3 |
TAL 29 |
KAN 36 |
TEX 10 |
MAR 31 |
PHO 15 |
14th | 511 | [12] | ||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | David Gilliland Racing | DAY 35 |
DAY 20 |
LVS 12 |
ATL 19 |
BRI 13 |
RCH 24 |
KAN 18 |
DAR 33 |
COA 31 |
CLT 22 |
TEX 9 |
NSH 18 |
POC 16 |
KNX 31 |
GLN 14 |
GTW 19 |
DAR 24 |
BRI 38 |
LVS 23 |
TAL 34 |
MAR 3 |
PHO 35 |
18th | 323 | [13] | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | DAY | LVS | ATL | COA | MAR | BRI | DAR | KAN | TEX | CLT | GTW | SON | KNO | NSH | MOH | POC | IRP | RCH | KAN | BRI | TAL | HOM | PHO | -* | -* | |||||||||||||||||||
K&N Pro Series West[]
| NASCAR K&N Pro Series West results | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | NKNPSWC | Pts | Ref |
| 2019 | DGR-Crosley | 15 | Toyota | LVS | IRW 2 |
TUS 2 |
TUS 2 |
CNS | SON | DCS | IOW 6 |
EVG | GTW 15 |
MER | AAS | KCR | PHO | 12th* | 195* | [14] |
ARCA Menards Series[]
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
| ARCA Menards Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | AMSC | Pts | Ref |
| 2019 | DGR-Crosley | 54 | Toyota | DAY | 12 |
SLM | TAL | NSH | TOL 8 |
CLT 6 |
POC | MCH 5 |
17 |
CHI 15 |
ELK | IOW | ISF | DSF | SLM | KAN 6 |
19th | 1440 | [15] | |||
| 2020 | 17 | Ford | DAY 16 |
PHO 4 |
TAL 13 |
POC 15 |
IRP | KEN 9 |
IOW | KAN 5 |
TOL | TOL | MCH | DAY | GTW | I44 | TOL | BRI | MEM | ISF | KAN | 20th | 203 | [16] | ||
| 2021 | David Gilliland Racing | DAY 7 |
PHO | TAL | KAN | TOL | CLT | MOH | POC | ELK | BLN | IOW | WIN | GLN | MCH | ISF | MLW | DSF | BRI | SLM | KAN | 76th | 38 | [17] | ||
ARCA Menards Series East[]
| ARCA Menards Series East results | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | AMSEC | Pts | Ref |
| 2019 | DGR-Crosley | 15 | Toyota | NSM 12 |
BRI 10 |
SBO 1* |
SBO 4 |
MEM 3 |
NHA 5 |
IOW 6 |
GLN 11 |
BRI 6 |
15 |
NHA 2 |
DOV 2 |
3rd | 458 | [18] |
| 2020 | 17 | Ford | NSM 18 |
TOL | DOV | TOL | BRI | FIF | 47th | 26 | [19] | |||||||
* Season still in progress
References[]
- ^ a b Benson, Candida (April 17, 2017). "Youngest Pro winners". NHRA. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
- ^ "Gray earns 2017 Auto Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award". November 13, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
- ^ "Tanner Gray,19, wins Pro Stock title to become youngest NHRA season champion". USA Today. November 10, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ "Tanner Gray to transition to NASCAR K&N East Series". Retrieved 2018-09-26.
- ^ Crandall, Kelly (January 23, 2020). "NASCAR podcast: Tanner Gray". RACER. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
- ^ Segal, Davey. "NHRA champion Tanner Gray earns maiden NASCAR K&N East victory at South Boston". Autoweek. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
- ^ "Tanner Gray to make Truck Series debut in Martinsville". DGR-Crosley. October 16, 2019.
- ^ Boarman, John (November 4, 2019). "Tanner Gray driving fifth DGR truck to finish season". Tireball.
- ^ Bonkowski, Jerry (December 16, 2019). "Tanner Gray to race Truck full-time in 2020 for DGR-Crosley". NBC Sports.
- ^ "Gray set to run full Truck series schedule in 2020". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. December 16, 2019. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
- ^ "Tanner Gray – 2019 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
- ^ "Tanner Gray – 2020 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
- ^ "Tanner Gray – 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
- ^ "Tanner Gray – 2019 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
- ^ "Tanner Gray – 2019 ARCA Menards Series results". Racing Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
- ^ "Tanner Gray – 2020 ARCA Menards Series results". Racing Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
- ^ "Tanner Gray – 2021 ARCA Menards Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
- ^ "Tanner Gray – 2019 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
- ^ "Tanner Gray – 2020 ARCA Menards Series East results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
External links[]
- Tanner Gray driver statistics at Racing-Reference
- Dragster drivers
- Racing drivers from New Mexico
- 1999 births
- Living people
- People from Artesia, New Mexico
- NASCAR drivers