Michael Ray headed into the second to last race of the 2011 NHRA season at Las Vegas with confidence and hoped to go rounds on Sunday. Unfortunately things did not go as planned for this Texas native.
“First round did not really go as planned because we did not turn the win light on. I had a really good reaction time of a .007 to Jerry Savoie’s .028. Middle of second gear the bike spun the tire a bit and that was where I kind of got beat. Definitely had a consistent motorcycle all weekend, but during qualifying you can’t afford to give up runs. We started a bit behind the field since we only made two runs going into first round.”
Despite the loss Ray leaves with a positive attitude from the weekend. “All in all it was a good day, we did not hurt any parts. Obviously I wanted to turn on the win light, but made a good run, had a good reaction time, and did a good job driving the bike. That is what’s really important when we are trying to get everything in sync because we are trying to get a win in Pomona.”
Ray is now looking forward to Pomona and taking his confidence with him.
“We are going to finish out the year with Matt Smith Racing and plan on going to Pomona. I am definitely not changing my tactics I am ready to shake up the countdown you know. I haven’t looked at the points yet to see if Matt is mathematically out. We want to help all of our teammates and try to go as many rounds as we can. See if we can help get one of my teammates or myself a Wally in Pomona at the world finals.”
