Adam Gray Looking to Pull Upset Victory at Martinsville

Over 90 late model teams and drivers arrived at Martinsville Speedway on Thursday for the annual ValleyStar Credit Union 300 test day. While the test session has normally been used as a way for drivers to shake down their cars in preparation for one of the most prestigious late model races in the country, the 2017 edition allowed drivers to take laps around Martinsville for the first time under the track’s new LED lights.

As the day progressed from the evening into the night, the usual names began to post some of the fastest speeds, including former ValleyStar Credit Union 300 winners Philip Morris and Tommy Lemons Jr., as well as late model veterans Peyton Sellers and Deac McCaskill. However, every year there are a couple of drivers with family-owned teams who turn heads in the garage area by posting times that rival the former Martinsville winners and late model veterans.

One of those surprises was Adam Gray, a native from Kingsport, Tennessee, who consistently posted times just over the 21-second bracket during Thursday’s test session. Gray said that his team began to find speed as he learned more about how to drive the track and how to adapt to the changing conditions.

“I had a lot of people give me help and providing me with a lot of information during the test,” Gray said. “We picked up a lot of time throughout the day, and we got pretty close to where we wanted to be. However, we ended up having mechanical problems that slowed us down, which we got sorted out during this past week, so we should be even quicker for the weekend.”

Gray’s fascination for auto racing began at the age of eight, when his parents gave him his first go-kart. After racing at Beechnut Raceway in Blountville, Tennessee for several years, Gray moved up to race in the Legends division at both Kingsport Speedway in Tennessee, as well as Lonesome Pine Raceway in Virginia. Gray found a lot of successes racing Legends cars, winning the 2012 Tennessee State Championship in the Legends Young Lions Division before moving up to run Late Models in 2013.

Gray was able to carry over his success from the Legends cars into Lonesome Pine’s late model division, winning several races and finish third in the track’s final 2013 standings, winning Rookie of the Year in the process. Although Gray was not able to duplicate that success in 2014, he began to venture out to other short tracks along the east coast, winning a race at Hickory, and finishing in the Top 500 in the Whelen All-American Series in both 2014 and 2015.

Whenever Gray is not at the racetrack, he can be found taking classes at East Tennessee State University, or writing and producing his own music. Gray added that recording music is mainly a hobby for him, but he is open to the idea of pursuing it as a career alongside auto racing.

“With college, it’s kind of been tough to juggle everything, so recording music has been put on the backburner for now,” Gray said. “I love to race, but I have a big passion for music as well. For the past couple of years, I’ve done some DJ gigs on the side, and I produce my own music in my spare time. Music has never been a priority over racing, but right now, it’s just for fun.”

Prior to arriving at Martinsville for the test, Gray had been to the historic race track several times to watch Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races, but Thursday marked the first time that he had been there as a driver. Gray noted that the track was very intimidating to him when he first strapped in to his #37 Chevy, but got more comfortable as he logged more laps. Gray added that the goal for his first ValleyStar Credit Union 300 is to be conservative if he wants to be a factor at the end.

“With races like these, you have to have patience and just wait for the right opportunity,” Gray said. “Being patient has always been one of my strong suits in racing. I expect that we’ll get the car a little bit faster before the race, and when it comes time to race, I’m going to see if I can keep my nose clean and make my way towards the front.”

If Gray manages to take the checkered flag first on Saturday night, he will become the first driver from Tennessee to win the ValleyStar Credit Union 300. However, Gray will have stiff competition from many Late Model veterans, and he will have to overcome the odds against him and his family-owned team in order to add his name to the long list of Martinsville winners.

The ValleyStar Credit Union 300 is NASCAR’s biggest, richest and most prestigious Late Model Stock Car race. The day starts with three 25-lap heat races to set the field, followed by a 25-lap “last chance” heat. Tickets for the September 23rd event are on sale now and can be purchased by calling 1-877-RACE-TIX or online at www.martinsvillespeedway.com.