Another McCray will launch her career Saturday
night at Orange Show Speedway
SAN BERNARDINO (March 27) –
There are easier places to start than at the top and Toni McCray knows
that. But the challenge she faces is one reason she’s excited
about making her debut in the Hype Manufacturing Super Late Model class
at Orange Show Speedway Saturday night (March 31).
“I
believe I can do it,” McCray said. “I think I’ll have
a lot to prove, but I’m willing to do it. I don’t want to
just go out there and run around. I want to win. And I guarantee you
I’ll get that win.”
Wisely, McCray doesn’t put a time limit on
her guarantee, because in a class that includes defending champion Glen
Cummings and a large group of talented, experienced drivers, victories
do not come easily.
That’s especially true for someone whose Super
Late Model experience consists of the 165 laps of practice she got at
Orange Show Speedway 10 days ago while propped up by “four or
five pillows” in Travis Stockman’s car. The other items
on the 30-year-old’s racing resume are a stint in go-karts as
a youngster, two Stock Pony races here 15 years ago, and several races
in a Legends Car during last year’s Summer Shootout at Lowe’s
Motor Speedway in Concord , N.C.
Gary Stockman, whose team built the Chevrolet Monte
Carlo Toni will be driving, said he was impressed by her ability during
the recent test and her father, former Orange Show Speedway and NASCAR
racer Rick McCray, said he was “kind of shocked” by her
performance.
Rick, who’s going to be a hands-on mentor,
said that watching his daughter develop as a driver is “gonna
be interesting, but it’ll be fun. She’ll have a good car.
She’s not going to be lacking there. The only place she’ll
be lacking is in seat time. She’ll be all right, though. As long
as she keeps her nose clean, she’ll be fine.”
Round two of the 15-race Super Late Models’
series will headline Saturday’s program, which also includes the
ASA Pro 4’s, AFLAC Factory Fours, Street Stocks, Bandoleros and
Western Racing Association (WRA) vintage open-wheel racers.
The Pro 4 main event will be featured on this week’s
“Orange Show Speedway Live” radio broadcast, which will
air from 8 to 9 p.m. on KTDD (1350 AM) and be simulcast on the Internet
at www.nixacountry.com.
Spectator gates will open and qualifying will begin
at 5 p.m. with the first race at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults,
$8 for seniors (62 and over) and juniors (13-16), and $2 for children
(6-12). Active military personnel and veterans with military identification
are admitted free of charge. Parking is $4, with entry through Gate
3 off Mill Street .
McCray
spent the past several years in North Carolina , where she worked most
recently for Evernham Motorsports’ Nextel Cup team. She said she
enjoyed her work and had several job offers, “but the travel was
crazy and I wanted to have a life, I wanted to race.”
So when her father called and said he could use some
help in his truck repair and service business, Toni was happy to come
home. She brought with her sponsorship from Lucas Oil and Puma, which
is supplying her fire suits and driving shoes.
“I’d been working on finding sponsors
and putting stuff together,” said McCray, who tested on the short
tracks at Concord Motorsports Park and Bowman Gray Stadium while in
North Carolina . “I knew I was going to run a Late Model in Carolina
or here. It worked out that I came back out here. It’s better
that way, because dad can really help me.”
She said that in addition to a full season on the
quarter-mile oval at Orange Show Speedway, there are plans to run some
races in Las Vegas and elsewhere to give her more opportunities to gather
experience – and get closer to that first win.
“I’m serious about this,”
said McCray, who’s going to use the 08 number that once adorned
her father’s cars . “I really want to do it.”
Racing at Orange Show Speedway is sponsored by Lucas
Oil, Blackhawk Protection, Hype Manufacturing, Del Taco, AFLAC, KTDD
AM radio 1350, Leno’s Rico Taco, Soboba Casino, Budweiser, Hoosier
Racing Tires, Frank’s Radio Service, Parker Pumper/BSR West, Eibach
Springs, JP Striping, Center Chevrolet, Pepsi, Matich Corporation, La
Salle Medical Associates, L. Curti Truck and Equipment; One Stop Landscape
Supply, Extreme Exhibits & Logistics and the San Bernardino County
Sun newspaper.
For further information, contact Jim Short at 951-203-2649
or jimshort65@sbcglobal.net, call 909-888-6788, X438, or visit the web
site at www.nosevents.com.
Note: Photos of Toni McCray in race
gear were taken at Lowe’s Motor Speedway during the Legends Cars
Summer Shootout last summer
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