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A Self Made Man
Knows How to Pick
Himself Up
PITTSBORO, N.C.
(September 8 2015):
It’s been just over
three months since
Pro Boost racer
Jeremy Ray tagged
the wall at the PDRA
Mid-America Open,
but for Ray the
event is no more
than a distant
memory now.
“I’ve been racing a
long time, 18
years,” he remarked.
“I didn’t have any
problems getting
back in the car. I
was ready to go.
It’s kinda one of
those things. If you
drive a Pro Mod,
you’ve got to be
prepared for that.
If something like
that happens you’ve
got to be tough
enough to get back
in the car. If you
can’t handle it then
you probably don’t
need to be driving
one of those types
of cars anyway.
They’re very violent
and temperamental
for sure.”
As a self-funded
team, J4 Racing
normally plays
things on the
conservative side.
Ray admits that he
probably shouldn’t
have pedaled the car
that day, but
hindsight is 20-20
and making
split-second
decisions at 175 MPH
is all part of the
drag racing game. As
soon as the
proverbial dust
cleared, however,
Ray was ready to get
right back at it. He
never missed a race,
bringing his backup
car, a Carolina blue
‘57 Chevy, out for
the Summer Drags a
month later while
the dinged up
Corvette was in
repair at Jerry
Bickel’s.
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Ray brought the Corvette back out at
the PDRA’s latest event, the Memphis
Drags, where the car, powered by a
Chuck Ford engine, quickly found
redemption by qualifying tenth and
making it to the second round.
“Jerry fixed the car like new. You
couldn’t even tell it had been
wrecked. It went straight and did
good. The tuner just needs to tighten
up,” joked Ray, who added tuning
duties to his repertoire this year.
“We were qualifying in the top half of
the field at every race we went to
with that Corvette.”
This is only the 36 year old South
Carolina native’s second year behind a
Pro Mod machine, although he began
racing 18 years ago. Despite missing
the first event of last season, Ray
finished 10th in the points in just
his first year as a professional
driver. He always knew he wanted to
run a Pro Mod, but there aren’t many
folks handing over seats, so Ray knew
it was up to him to make his dream
come true.
“I started racing a Mustang in
footbrake. I did that for a few years
and then started building a Top
Sportsman car. It never got finished,
so I just kept bracket racing on and
off until we were financially able to
start putting a Pro Mod together.”
J4 Racing is funded by Ray’s two
businesses, Jeremy Ray Construction
and JR Service and Repair, both of
which Ray has built from the ground
up.
“I started the business in 2005 as a
grading and land clearing business,”
explained Ray. “I started off with a
backhoe and one part time helper. Ten
years later now we’ve got nearly 50
employees. When the economy went south
in ‘08 and 9, I changed into the
forestry industry and logging. Now
we’re pretty much a logging operation.
We run five logging crews with 20
trucks.
“We just do the best we can. I'm just
36 years old so when someone comes
looking for the owner they look for my
dad. They think it was a family
business that I just took over. But
I’ve just worked hard, done people
right and always did what I said I was
going to do.”
Ray’s hard work has paid off and now
he gets to enjoy the fruits of his
labor by competing at one of the
highest levels of drag racing. “I’m
pretty laid back,” he added. “I don’t
get real excited. I don’t brag about
what we do. We just got out there and
do what we do. I just race the track.
I don’t care who I’m racing. I’m kind
of a rookie tuner. It’s my first year
tuning the car myself. I think we’re
doing pretty good considering the
entire experience. I think this year
is a big learning year, even more than
last year. I’m learning a lot and I
think we should be pretty competitive
next year, for sure.”
The Pro Boost team also gets help from
Southern Lubricants, the company that
also supplies oil products for Ray’s
businesses.
J4 Racing is a family operation, as
the name implies. J4 stands for four
family members: Jeremy, his high
school sweetheart and wife of 10
years, Jessica, and their two
children, Jaydon and Jenna.
“They like racing probably as much or
more than I do,” Ray said of his wife
and kids, who always join him at the
track. “We enjoy it. My dad and my mom
go, too. It’s a good time. I want to
thank them and my wife, Jessica, for
putting up with everything. She’s been
good to me. I want to thank my crew,
which consists of my dad, Rickey, and
Justin Jeffers. I appreciate their
help.
“I’m definitely fortunate. If it
wasn’t for the Big Man upstairs none
of this would have happened.”
There are only three events left of
the PDRA’s sophomore tour. Ray would
love nothing more than to end the year
on a high note, starting with his home
stop, Dragstock XII in Rockingham,
North Carolina.
“Rockingham is our biggest race for
family and friends to come. I hope we
can put up some big numbers. I got
some new things I’ve been working on.
Been testing a lot and working really
hard. The main reason why we didn’t
run good at Memphis is I was testing
there. I shouldn’t have been, but
sometimes you just have to do it when
you can. We learned a lot, I think. We
should do good in Rockingham. I’m
expecting some fast numbers from us,
but race cars can either make you look
real good or real bad really fast.”
ABOUT THE PDRA
Based in Pittsboro, North Carolina,
the Professional Drag Racers
Association is the top sanctioning
body in the United States for the
sport of eighth-mile drag racing. The
PDRA’s professional categories include
Pro Extreme, Pro Nitrous, Pro Boost,
and Pro Extreme Motorcycle along with
Top Sportsman, Top Dragster, Pro Jr.
Dragster, and Top Jr. Dragster. The
2015 PDRA schedule consists of ten
national events. For more on the
world’s premier eighth mile drag
racing organization visit
www.pdra660.com.
Follow the PDRA:
Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram,
YouTube.
Photo: Gary Rowe / PDRA660.com /
RaceWorks.com
PRESS CONTACT: Lisa Collier
Professional Drag Racers Association
lisa@pdra660.com |
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