Former NHRA Pro Stock champion turned NASCAR and ARCA stock car racer Tanner Gray will jump back behind the wheel of a factory hot rod for the first time in competition since his triumphant swan song at the Auto Club Finals at Pomona in November of 2018 this weekend as he fills in for an ailing Deric Kramer in his American Ethanol-backed Chevrolet Camaro at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, Pennsylvania.
The news was first broken Thursday night during the live broadcast of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series UNOH 200 at Bristol on FS1, a race in which Gray drove to a 17th place finish in his Ford F-150.
While Kramer concluded the regular season 12th in the standings, he benefited from an NHRA policy that provides automatic entry into the Countdown to the Championship to any team that participates in every regular-season national event. Another policy, instituted during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic that allows for replacement drivers to accumulate points for the original driver, will also aid Kramer in his championship efforts despite missing the opener. And with that Kramer — and Gray, in a supporting role — will start his championship chase 120 points down to leader Erica Enders at Reading.
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