ANOTHER MCCRAY WILL LAUNCH HER CAREER SATURDAY NIGHT AT ORANGE SHOW SPEEDWAY

Source: Orange Show Speedway Public Relations
Date: 03/27/2007

SAN BERNARDINO, California -- 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.

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