In an average high school senior's life, there are important issues to deal with. There's picking out the right college, getting ready for the Junior - Senior Prom, and eagerly anticipating graduation. 

With all due respect, Tanner Gray isn't your average high school senior. 

Gray, who turned 18 on April 15, already has one Pro Stocck victory to his credit in Las Vegas and has never finished lower than quarter-finalist. 

"My dad and my grandpa definitely paved a path for me that there should be the results," Gray explained. "They definitely put in a lot of hard work in this race team, and they’ve put forth a lot of effort and money to make this race team the caliber that it is. I’m definitely very blessed to have been able to hop in a car that good and go win my fourth race ever. 

'With my dad, and my grandpa, and Dave’s help, it’s definitely made the learning curve not so steep for me as I think it would be for other people if they didn’t have the same resources I did."

Gray comes from good drag racing pedigree from his father Shane Gray and grandfather Johnny Gray.  And for the third-generation factory hot rod racer, success came quicker than his elders. For Gray, he understands his role as the one who receives the accolades, but this doesn't mean he doesn't pass one credit where he feels it is due. 

"Winning the race was a career builder," Gray explained. "My team definitely gave me the race car and made it a lot easier on my part. Without them, I really wouldn’t have won the race. They gave me a great race car. That was the best car we’d had all year. I drove the best that I had drove out of those four races. I shifted real consistent and hit the tree decent. 

"Without the guys and Dave [Connolly] and just everybody who contributes to that car, we wouldn’t have won." 

A pretty humble reaction from a driver who is on the tail-end of home-schooling, which enables him to partake in a racing-heavy lifestyle. 

Let the grades slip and no racing. No exceptions. 

"[My parents] want me to make good grades," Gray said. "One of the deals is, you make good grades, you can race. School definitely isn’t my favorite thing, but if it means that I get to race, then I make sure I get it done." 

In the Gray household, a family that races together stays together. 

"We are very close and with each other almost every day," Gray confirmed. "If I’m not with them, I’m with Dave or just someone part of the race team. I don’t really think that there’s much for me to get in trouble with. I definitely think that just being with the race team a lot probably puts [my parents] at ease. 

"I don’t really do much besides go out and race. I know my dad’s gotten on me for certain things I’ve done in the race car, but nothing out of line."

For Gray, his formative years have always been about steering wheels and tires, and not stick and ball sports.  

"I love football and I think it’s a really cool sport, but I definitely think I was just meant to race because I can’t play football to save my life," Gray said with a smile. 

Gray probably could dance better, but going to the prom just didn't work in his favor, and not because he couldn't find a date. 

"Every year that prom has come around, I’ve either been running someone’s sprint car or running my own," Gray admitted. 

Turning left, right or just going straight, Gray has no preferences. 

"I really don't have a favorite," Gray said. "It just depends on what you’re in. When I go racing sprint cars, I'm super pumped up to get back into the drag car and go try to win in that. Then when you’re in the drag car when you’re done with that weekend, you’re pumped up to get in the sprint car.

"I think, to me, racing is racing. I just love the competitiveness of it. I just like to drive anything. I love to just go out to a local go-kart track out here and run their rental cars. I think that’s a ton of fun. Just anything I can get in I enjoy it. There’s no type of racing that I don’t want to do."

And should he want to venture outside of his comfort zone, he doesn't have to look far for sage advice.  

"The one that sticks out to me probably is after Gainesville, after I made a mistake," Gray recalled. Both of them sat me down in the lounge. I’m very hard on myself as a driver. I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well. Especially with the equipment that we have, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t do well, in my opinion. 

"When I made that mistake I was real hard on myself. They just sat me down and reiterated to me over and over that you’ve got to let the mistakes go, and the more you dwell on it, the worse you’re going to get."

As you might have figured out, Gray's critics couldn't be as tough on him as he is on himself.

"For sure," Gray added.