But in the interest of remaining realistic and staying focused on maintaining his steady emergence on the Golden State circuit, Gray knows a top-five finish among some of 410 winged sprint car racing's heavy hitters would also be an ideal way to get this year started.
The 26-year-old Chico native's quest will be one of many beginning tonight on the front end of this weekend's Mini Gold Cup twin bill, which wraps up Saturday. The event kicks off a Golden State season that is shaping up to be a particularly interesting one for Gray a year after he ended up eighth in the overall standings — his highest finish on the state-wide tour in seven seasons.
"Winning at the Mini Gold Cup is tough to do," Gray, driver of the Jessee Heating and Air Conditioning No. 71 car he owns, explained at Thursday's media gathering for the event. "It would be fun. The field is stacked, and just like any other sprint car event, between the pill draw and so many different factors, you have to catch some breaks. You don't race to finish second place. At the same time, that's quite an accomplishment to be able to drive it out and start getting those top fives. If you can consistently finish in the top five in Golden State, you're having a great year."
Officials from John Padjen Motorsports, Silver Dollar's racing coordinator, are just glad to see a weekend forecast showing virtually no hint of rain. Last season's Mini Gold Cup was the first in its 20-year history to be completely wiped out, falling victim to the unseasonably heavy showers that swept through the north state for most of March.
The return brings some promise for an entertaining competition. Headlining the group of 40-plus drivers expected to line the pit area on the stadium's east end are four-time winner Brent Kaeding, his son and defending champion Tim Kaeding, and World of Outlaws regulars Jason Meyers and Brandon Wimmer, the 20-year-old reigning National Sprint Car Poll Winged 410 Rookie of the Year.
Fresh off winning last year's Golden State season points championship, Chico's Jonathan Allard has also been tabbed to be a lead contender as he attempts to continue cementing one of the area's most dominant driving legacies.
Though regarded as not much more than a formidable underdog, Gray is starting to evolve into a househould name on the Golden State scene. After a 65th-place finish in the overall standings in his first season in 2000, he eventually moved up to 25th in 2003, dipped to 29th in 2004, then began a rapid ascension up the ladder — 13th in 2005 and into the top 10 last season despite missing three of the circuit stops.
"It's definitely a situation where experience helps," said Gray, the 2004 Silver Dollar track champion whose six Golden State heat wins in 2006 were second to only Allard's 10. "You have to get used to all the different tracks, you have to have the money to travel and just get quality finishes out of every ride. We need to keep getting better in all those regards."
Fellow Chicoan Brett Miller will make his full-time Golden State debut tonight after sharing Silver Dollar's top rookie honors — at 17, he became the track's youngest feature winner in August — while also gaining national acclaim for his impressive opening campaign.
"It's an exciting new step for me to take," Miller said. "I have a lot to learn and this is a great setting for me to do so."
Ultimately, Gray and Miller would like to sometime have a season similar to Allard's '06 romp. With 10 feature wins, 13 top fives and 10 fast-time victories, Allard turned in one of the tour's most high-profile performances and will be hard-pressed to duplicate it.
"There's nowhere to go but down," he admitted Thursday. "But I like that challenge. We know what it takes to get to the top now and that's a huge benefit for us."
