Adam Gray Looks Forward to Double Duty in 2014

KINGSPORT, TN :: Adam Gray burst on to the Late Model Stock Car scene last year with two wins at Lonesome Pine Raceway in Virginia.  Now, Adam Gray is hoping to score even more victories as the young driver has committed to running both Kingsport Speedway and Lonesome Pine Raceway in 2014.

The commitment to run both tracks comes as Kingsport Speedway and Lonesome Pine Raceway have both formed an alliance. Earlier on Wednesday, the official announcement that Lonesome Pine would be a NASCAR sanctioned track was made.

Gray will be competing in Late Model Stock Cars for his second season with a new Crew Chief, Mark Torbett, who worked with Hayden Woods last year, at the helm.

“I’ve been coming up for a long time racing go karts and legends,” Gray said.  “Last year was my first year in Late Models.  It was a big learning curve but I never could’ve anticipated that kind of success in my first year.  It was really nice to finally get that recognition because it was a culmination of a lot of years of hard work.”

Gray says he’s excited about running both tracks this season but also recognizes the caliber of competition he will be racing against as drivers from Kingsport Speedway, such as Chad Finchum and Nate Monteith, among others, compete at Lonesome Pine and as he races at Kingsport as well.

“It’s really exciting for once because it opens up a new opportunity for everybody,” Gray stated.  “I’m hoping we get to run a lot at both tracks. If we do, I’ll race smart and clean.  I think we’ve got a great shot at doing something with this opportunity.  It really is intimidating to have all these new drivers to me come in to where I’ve been racing and know they can do well there.  I know that, since I’ve been racing at Lonesome Pine longer, I might have an edge there.  Hopefully it won’t be too long before I can pick it up at Kingsport as well and I’ll be riding up there with them.”

Gray said the rule changes, in which Lonesome Pine will import most of Kingsport’s rulebook, haven’t forced his team to do anything major to the car.

“Over the winter, when we went through the car, we put it together however it was necessary and didn’t have any big changes,” Gray remarked.  “I think that the rules should cut down on some of the shenanigans that were going on.”

He also spoke about his future, saying he’d like to move up the ranks as he improves as a driver.

“I love short track racing and I had more fun last year than I had doing anything else,” Gray explained.  “If an opportunity presented itself to run another series like ARCA, I would jump at the opportunity.  Once we get more experience and start consistently winning races, we might try to look for some opportunities like that.  Until some money comes along, we’re just going to stick with what we’ve got and run as long as possible.”

Gray has two career Late Model Stock Car wins, both coming on July 13^th when he swept twin Late Model features at Lonesome Pine.  He finished third in season points in 2013 and took home Rookie of the Year honors at The Pine.  The 2014 season at Kingsport Speedway goes green on Saturday, March 29^th and the Lonesome Pine season will kick off on Saturday, April 12^th.