Effective Immediately NHRA Staple V. Gaines Retires from Pro Stock
We hate to report this, but effective immediately V. Gaines has announced his retirement from NHRA Pro Stock. He released a statement on his Facebook page in regards to it this evening.
V. Gaines at Bristol just a week and a half ago. .
"To all our friends, fans, and supporters:
Well over 20 years ago we started this racing adventure. We have made some amazing friends along the way, met some of the most loyal fans a race team could ever want to have, we have formed a partnership with Kendall Motor Oil that will never be forgotten….We have always taken our racing serious but more important we have always raced to enjoy weekends and have some fun.
Today we announce our retirement from NHRAPro Stock racing. This decision is purely based on the fact the fun has left this chapter in life.
We are thankful for all the support from our friends, fans, and family, and most of all from Kendall Motor Oil."
Currently V. was 12th in the Mello Yello Pro Stock points and 124 points behind 10th place, held by Alex Laughlin. V. has been a staple in Pro Stock for many years and it's sad when someone that is there every weekend, is amazing with the fans and social media decides to hang it up.
Did you know that V. Gaines is a hugely successful businessman as well? He owns GRP Rods, Winberg Crankshafts, Lazarus Race Cars, Fineline Graphics (graphics for Frontier Airlines), Western Distributing (100+ trucks), Carz Performance, MadCap Racing Engines plus several others.
On a more personal note, V. was a HUGE support to me when I worked for Tony Pedregon. Whenever I had DOT issues, he was a call or message away to give advice. We had an 80,000 pound rig with a 56' trailer and it was a constant source of amusement for the DOT to stop us or let us know at the scale house we were just a tick under 80k pounds and lucky.
We would like to wish V. the best in whatever direction he decides to go. I am really hoping as a fan that this isn't it, but if it is, I want to thank him for the memories. He is always fun to watch and just a great all around person!
Hope you're smoking a good cigar tonight sir!