Pomona: Danny Gruninger final report

GRUNINGER ANXIOUS FOR TEAMS NEXT EVENT

Pomona, Calif. -- Don't blame 23-year old Danny Gruninger if he's excited for the next NHRA event to start.

After incrementally increasing the USRECOGNITION.COM PRO STOCK DODGE's career best elapsed time in 3 out of 4 qualifying attempts at the season opening NHRA Winternationals, the Denver, Colo. based team can't wait for their next race in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

The team began their qualifying effort on Thursday afternoon with a solid 6.69 second elapsed time which stood as the 15th quickest elapsed time in the Pro Stock class this day. "The air was very good on Thursday, hovering around 2000 foot corrected altitude," noted driver Danny Gruninger. "We put together a solid base line tune up and that .69 surprised us all. We knew this was a number and run we could tune with for the rest of the weekend."

The kid was right.

The graphic artist for US RECOGNITION and former high school Colorado State Golf Champion, Gruninger then increased his career best E.T. by one-hundredth of a second in Q-2 on Friday, netting a solid 6.681 second elapsed time. Tire shake and a tricky track plagued the Hemi powered Dodge Pro Stock team's third qualifying effort on Saturday morning, which placed Gruninger nearly three hundredths of a second away from cracking the elite 16-car qualified field.

"We knew coming into this race, qualifying for the 50th Winternationals would be an amazing accomplishment for us," noted Gruninger. "With the performance of this newly freshened Bob Panella Hemi engine and the fact we did absolutely no testing in the pre season, we thought we had a shot at improving our qualifying position a little, but we are astonished on what we produced in Q-4."

Gruninger staged the USRECOGNITION.COM Pro Stock Dodge on a hot race track, with a corrected altitude at the worst level during the weekend for the final qualifying attempt. In order to qualify for the field, the Colorado invaders needed to increase their career best elapsed time by more than two-hundredths of a second; an eternity in Pro Stock racing. Gruninger and crew were up to the task however, as the USRECOGNITION.COM Pro Stock Dodge traveled the quarter mile in 6.657 seconds at a speed of 207.54 miles per hour. The effort momentarily placed Gruninger in the 16th qualified position. And for approximately 90 seconds, Gruninger was racing on Sunday. A 6.622 second run by New Mexico's Johnny Gray ended the race day plans for the 23-year old Pro Stock sophomore, as he was bumped out of the field and relegated to the 18th position.

"The weekend was a tremendous success," concluded Gruninger. "We got to race at the historic 50th NHRA Winternationals, we ran our best performance by nearly half-a-tenth of a second, and we got some incredible run data for our next race. The USRECOGNITION.COM team did great in Pomona. And I can't wait for our next race."

The team has not disclosed which NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event is next on the schedule, however where ever it may be, the USRECONITION.COM Pro Stock Dodge will be ready to race.

-source: Gruninger Motorsports