NHRA DQ's J.R. Gray on a technicality after his Bristol victory

We learned a few hours ago that there were rumors regarding an NHRA decision that they stripped J.R. Gray of his Bristol victory due to a “safety violation”

While we haven’t gotten to speak to J.R. regarding this, we refused to address any rumors until there were facts behind it. Since the initial calls to us, Mike Janis has publicly posted to social media and reads as such…

This is an extremely hard post to make....on behalf of everyone here at Mike Janis Racing while JR Gray 100% dominated today and won the Wally here at NHRA Bristol, TN...we were DQ'ed in the final round and fined $5,000.

We replaced the air regulator system in our car this morning as we were having some issues. Didn't want to chance it so we took it out of the other car. In doing so there was a switch that was bypassed. An air safety switch. All the safety features still worked properly on the car. Every last one of them!! There was no performance enhancing things we did wrong, it was all due to a safety switch which was bypassed.

We are a completely shattered and at a loss for words. Morally and ethically it was a horrible decision as nothing we did put anyone in danger or could've hurt someone. If you want to fine us go right ahead...but you do not take a man's Wally away. We earned it and worked so hard for that moment. We appreciate all the support and congratulations. So proud of this team. So damn proud.

We have also reached out and spoke to Jamie Miller, who tunes on Kris Thorne’s car, the car that faced off against J.R. in the finals and this is what Jamie stated…

Yes that is true, it was a ridiculous call . I wish he just got a fine , but kept the win. Actually, let me say this . He did WIN the race, we lost … this is simply a technicality.

I also asked Jamie if Kris had been awarded the victory…

I don’t know that they have yet, I really haven’t heard. I certainly won’t be claiming we won the race. I really hate it for that whole team. They ran great all weekend and definitely deserve the win.

We will update this when NHRA decides to have a statement or comment regarding the violation.