There’s no time like your first time. And for J.R. Gray, there was no time like the season’s first race to score his first career No. 1 position during the second day of the NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla. 

Gray, driving for Pro Modified legend Mike Janis, overtook Justin Bond atop the Pro Modified leaderboard during abbreviated qualifying with a 5.731 at 250.97 mph; Bond ended up No. 2 in the sixteen-car field with a 5.751, 249.90 pass.

“I’m really stoked,” Gray said. “This is the first No. 1 qualifier of my life in any competition, and I have raced in many classes. The Gatornationals is like my personal Super Bowl because I grew up in Florida and went to this race many times. To be the top qualifier at a track where my dad and Granddad brought me all the time as a kid is just amazing.”

Gray’s milestone pass was one he would likely never forget. 

 “The track was a little tricky about 100 feet out, so we backed it down, and I had to drive it more than I wanted to at the top end, but it had some good early numbers for the conditions,” Gray explained. “The air was very good, so the back half was very fast.” 

Gray will have little time to celebrate his feat, as stringent live television schedules on Sunday, combined with Pro Modified’s inclusion in the FoxSports broadcast, are making it necessary for a Saturday evening first round of eliminations, 

Gray is paired with No. 16 qualifier Paul Daigrepont in the first round. Other first-round pairings include Bond vs. Dwayne Wolf; Kevin Rivenbark vs. Mike Thielen; Mike Castellana vs. Billy Banaka; Jerico Balduff vs. Sidnei Frigo; Doug Winters vs. Mason Wright, and the defending series champion Kris Thorne will face the small tire superstar turned Pro Modified racer Manny Buginga.