NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The way the championship is structured in the Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series with a six-race regular season followed by a brief but intense four-race playoff to decide the championship, it’s almost impossible not to have late-season drama.

Pro Mod cars generally don’t require additional help in order to be dramatic, but the NHRA points format makes the final events of the season can’t-miss entertainment.

Today, no one knows that better than J.R. Gray, who survived a thrilling winner-take-all final round at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to clinch his first career NHRA world championship in the Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Series. Gray took out Billy Banaka to close out the season and win the Dodge NHRA Nevada Nationals powered by Direct Connection.

In what was easily the most important round of his life, Gray left first with a sterling .028 reaction time and never looked back, pulling away from Banaka with a run of 5.749 seconds at 250.04 mph in his Al-Anabi Performance Camaro, clinching the event win and, more importantly, the world championship. The final tally had Gray at 1,121 points with Banaka just a single point behind at 1,120.

“The level of competition in this class is incredible. Every round, I kept going, ‘This is the most important round,’ and it was just all day long like that. To come out on top, this is my greatest victory ever,” said Gray, who defeated Alex Laughlin, Kevin Rivenbark, and past world champion Mike Castellana to reach the Las Vegas final. “I was very mentally prepared. I was just taking it one round at a time. You’re walking a fine line between trying to be calm and not being calm at the same time. I felt like I controlled my emotions well all day, and I feel like that was one of the reasons I was able to get this victory.

“It’s just amazing for it to come down to the last round,” Gray said. “I just didn’t let the pressure get to me, and we worked together as a team. In that final round, I wasn’t going to lift no matter what. It just felt amazing to see that win light pop up.”

Gray hadn’t won an NHRA race since Bristol in 2021, but he entered this season with renewed enthusiasm thanks to a partnership with Shiekh Khalid Al Thani and Al Anabi Racing. Running as a teammate to Mike Stavrinos, Gray also benefited from the tuning expertise of crew chief Mark Savage as well as Todd and Ty Tutterow.

Gray opened with a semifinal and a quarterfinal in Gainesville and Phoenix, and his championship drive kicked into high gear with four straight finals, including wins in Charlotte, Bristol, and Richmond.

In Charlotte, Gray mastered the tricky four-wide format with a final-round win over Alex Laughlin, Billy Banaka, and Mike Janis. He had the quickest car in the final with a 5.656.

The Richmond final was even more dramatic as Gray drove to a clean 5.787 for the win, while opponent Dmitry Samorukov made hard contact with the retaining wall just off the starting line. Samorukov wasn’t hurt, and Gray clearly established himself as the championship favorite at the conclusion of the regular season.

“Pro Mod over here [in NHRA] is tough,” Gray said. “It’s a quarter-mile, and that separates the men from the boys. With fields this close, we don’t know which way we’re going. I do believe everyone else has to catch up. We’re putting in time day in and day out. There is always somebody working on these cars, and after four finals in a row, [we were] really ready.”

For all his early success, Gray stumbled out of the gates in the Pro Mod playoffs, falling in the first round at the first two races in Indianapolis and Charlotte. After slipping to fifth, he recovered with a semifinal showing in St. Louis, knowing he likely needed to win in Las Vegas to have a shot at a championship.

“We fell off a little bit when we came back from our [midseason] break, but we managed to pull everything together as a team and to triumph like we did in Las Vegas,” Gray said. “Honestly, we were very prepared. [In Las Vegas], every round was just like doing a test pass.”

Gray’s final scorecard for the season is one of the most impressive in the long history of NHRA Pro Mod racing with four wins in five finals and a pair of semi’s in just 10 events. He finished with a solid 23-6 record in elimination rounds for the season.

“My car ran well, and I had good lights, and overall, I’m happy with our performance,” Gray said. “I have to thank KH and Al Anabi and Mark Savage and Todd and Ty Tutterow, Grant, Rick, and Spencer for making this car a bullet.”