Gruninger’s last NHRA appearance was in a test driving capacity in Jim Cunningham’s Ford Mustang at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals, where he barely missed qualifying for the 16-car field by less than 0.004 seconds. Gruninger produced some very quick elapsed times Cunningham’s Ford in his two-race stint and was very appreciative to the Cunningham’s for the opportunity to drive their car.

“The experience with Jim and Gloria was very positive for me,” noted Gruninger. “They have a very professional operation over at Cunningham Motorsports and driving their car was a dream come true for certain. We knew it was going to be only a two-race deal and we tried to make the best of the opportunity. However, I am very pleased to be racing for my family at our hometown race. Our company, US RECOGNITION.COM is based here in Denver, and we’ll have several of our customers and friends on hand to support our team. With a fresh bullet in the chamber of our USRECOGNITION.COM sponsored Pro Stock Dodge, I am anxious to show how our hometown team can match up against the competition.”

A four-time competitor in the Little League World Series representing the State of Colorado, and a former Colorado High School State Golfing Champion who earned his PGA tour card shortly after graduating from high school, Gruninger brings his lust for competition and athletic mental attitude to the NHRA behind the wheel of the six-second, 200 mph Gruninger Motorsports US RECOGNITION.COM Pro Stock Dodge.

“Competing in sports at a young age has prepared me for racing against some of the best racers in motorsports,” noted Gruninger. “People might think driving a Pro Stock car is simple, but there are several challenges in driving one of these 200 mph door cars down a quarter-mile drag strip. It requires physical ability, extreme concentration and a mental-can-do attitude. You don’t want to get into one of these cars unless you are 100 percent confident in your equipment, your team, and even yourself. It’s a dangerous hobby, but I feel safer in this Jerry Hass built race car than driving down I-70 in my personal car. Plus, it’s a lot more fun.”

To learn more about Danny Gruninger, please visit his team page at crxmedia.com.

About CRX Media:
CRX Media is a marketing, new media and public relations group servicing the world of drag racing. Originally founded in early 2009 as a public relations and motorsports marketing company, we have grown to add branding, web and new media production services to the list of capabilities. We find the partners, cross-market, manage the campaigns, educate the audiences, and develop fan bases so our clients can focus on winning on Sunday. Visit CRX online at crxmedia.com.

Keep up to date with up to the minute race results posted on dragracecentral.com.

Gruninger has been selected to drive the Cunningham Motorsports Pro Stock Ford Mustang for the next two NHRA National events, beginning this weekend at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals contested at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Ill.

“I’m very grateful for Jim and Gloria Cunningham to give me the opportunity to drive for them,” noted Gruninger, who has been driving his family’s Colorado based USRECOGNITION.COM Pro Stock car for the past two seasons. “It’s only a two race deal for St. Louis and Atlanta at this time so my main focus is to go out there, drive the best I can and help this team as much as possible in this short stint. I’ve been eating, breathing, and dreaming NHRA Pro Stock for the majority of my life and to be part of such a first class operation with such good people is what I’ve dreamed of for many years.”

Gruninger recently spent the past weekend with the Cunningham team at Capital Raceway in Crofton, Md. gaining valuable seat time behind the wheel of the teams Ford Mustang in preparation for the race in St. Louis. Gruninger made a solid half track pass with incremental times showing some very promising results. The group at Cunningham Motorsports and their newest team driver are very excited about the prospects this weekend in St. Louis.

“It’s no secret Pro Stock racing is won back at the shop, and this team really does have ‘it’”, Gruninger said. “Jim and Gloria have put together all the equipment needed and more importantly a great group of people that work as many hours as any team out there. Jim and Gloria Cunningham, Cunningham Racing Engines, the staff at Capitol Raceway, and Ford Racing have put forth a lot of effort preparing this red Mustang and it’s my intention to represent them well. Also, my family members and employees back at Us Recognition are working their tails off giving me the chance to do this. Without the support of everyone around me I’d never be in this position. I’m just an extremely thankful person this weekend and hope we can give the Ford Racing fans something to cheer about.”

Cunningham Motorsports was established by Jim and his wife Gloria in Crofton, Maryland, the owners of Capitol Raceway and Cunningham Sand & Gravel. Team driver Erica Enders drives the Cunningham’s Ford Mustang team car. Additional support comes from Ford Racing, Mastercam, Clevite, Bill Miller Pistons, Aeroquip, Victory 1, LAT oils, Prestone, Fram, Autolite, Goodyear, Sparco and Oakley. To learn more about Cunningham Motorsports, please visit their website.

To learn more about Danny Gruninger, please view his team page.

Gruninger Motorsports Pro Stock Dodge from CRX Media on Vimeo.

Check out Danny Gruninger’s team page.

After an off-pace 6.86 second elapsed time during the first qualifying session, Gruninger’s crew made several wholesale changes to the USRECOGNITION.COM Pro Stock Dodge, hoping the mile-high city based team could produce a good base-line fun for tomorrow’s final qualifying sessions which will set the 16-car field. The team succeeded by improving their efforts by 0.054 seconds. Gruninger’s 6.815 ET was 18th quickest in the session and bodes well for tomorrow’s make-it-or-break-it qualifying.

“Everything that could go wrong did go wrong in that first session today,” noted the 23-year old sophomore NHRA Pro Stock driver from Denver, Colo. “It started in the burnout and went downhill from there. We made a gear change, and backed it down a little bit in attempt to get down this hot track and put a .81 on the board. We expected something slower, so we’re on the right pace for tomorrow’s final sessions.”

One of the changes the USRECOGNITION.COM Pro Stock team made was to add, Z-Alt™ 10X Oil Booster to their Bob Panella prepared 500 cubic inch Hemi-Dodge. Z-Alt 10x Metal Treatment using Z-Alt™ Infused Moly™- based technology can help with the reduction of ZDDP’s in today’s engine oils. Z-Alt™ contains stabilizing anti-oxidants and very unique metal deactivators to assure that Clean Boost™ Metal Treatment performs well in both engine and gear oil applications without changing the chemical make-up of the oil.

The oil acts like a delivery truck carrying the Z-Alt 10X Metal Treatment to the asperities of the metals and forming a covalent, galvanic bond to the metal allowing a 2 to 4 micron penetration into the metal, creating less friction and heat. The 10X Oil Booster does not layer the metal or put a film over the top of the metal, rather it is designed to penetrate into the metal working with ferrous particulates within the oils environment; treating the metal, not the oil.

“We are happy to have the guys at CleanBOOST® Performance Motor Oils here this weekend with our team providing us with some great education and their great Z-Alt product for us to test in our Pro Stock Dodge,” stated Gruninger. “We feel very confident using this product as we have seen how well their Infuzed-Moly technology protects the engine. Their METTLE-ARMOR™ did great last weekend in Kristen Wootton’s 4,000 horsepower A/Fuel Dragster. Hopefully it will propel us to a race day start on Sunday.”

To learn more about Danny Gruninger and his marketing partners visit USRECOGNITION.COM or view his team page on this site.

The re-run Gruninger wishes he could have occurred at the last event his team competed in, the ill-fated NHRA Arizona Nationals in Chandler, Az. It was a run which produced career best incremental numbers from the starting line till 660 feet down the quarter-mile drag strip. Then, things went downhill quickly for the graphic designer employed by USRECOGNITION.COM. As the car reached the ‘now infamous’ bump in the left lane, on board computer ratings showed a unloading of the chassis and severe-drive shaft vibration. This caused the engine’s RPM to elevate to levels the high-priced valve-train could not contain. Gruninger ended up lifting off the throttle at 1150 feet into the run, however the damage was done.

“We wound up breaking a few valves and some other internal engine hardware on that pass which I wish we never made,” said Gruninger. “In hind-sight we were very fortunate the car did not unload and ‘turn turtle’ as Gordie Rivera and Vinnie Deceglie both had happen to them. For a team like us who operate on a very tight budget, the damage our engine suffered was almost enough to park us until our home event in July at the Mopar Mile High Nationals. Luckily our engine builder Bob Paella is very efficient and our Hemi-Dodge should be ready to improve this weekend at “The Strip”. I hope we can find a way to crack this field. We have been very close at every event this season, and we are improving every time the car makes a run. I think this weekend luck will turn our way.”

The 23-year old NHRA Pro Stock competitor from Denver, Colo. has the pedigree of a sports champion. A four-time competitor in the Little League World Series representing the State of Colorado, and a former Colorado High School State Golfing Champion who earned his PGA tour card shortly after graduating from high school, Gruninger brings his lust for competition and athletic mental attitude to the NHRA behind the wheel of the six-second, 200 mph Gruninger Motorsports US RECOGNITION.COM Pro Stock Dodge.

To learn more about Danny Gruninger and his marketing partners visit USRECOGNITION.COM or view his team page on this site.

Chandler, Az. – The USRECOGNITION.COM Pro Stock Dodge team finished the first day of qualifying at Firebird International Raceway with a 6.744 second elapsed time at the NHRA Arizona Nationals contested in Chandler, Az. Team driver Danny Gruninger recorded his quickest elapsed time during the first of two sessions today.

On the team’s first pass of the day, the USRECOGNITION.COM Pro Stock Dodge left the starting line with a conservative 1.004 60 foot time. Gruninger continue to steer the 2007 Dodge Stratus down the quarter mile and recorded the 6.744 E.T. at a speed of 205.69 miles per hour. “The first pass was definitely a base line pass,” noted Gruninger. “Our goal was to simply get down the track in Q-1 in order to give us some run data to tune this USRECOGNITION.COM Dodge for the rest of the qualifying.”

Gruninger and his father, Mark then made several adjustments to the cars suspension for the second qualifying session of the day. Prior to Gruninger’s attempt, fellow Pro Stock competitor, Gordie Rivera was straight and clean until around 800 feet and when the car made a sudden right hand turn and then flipped on to its roof. The car slid into right hand wall and then on down the track on the roof. Fortunately, the veteran Pro Stock competitor from Yuma, Az. walked away from the accident. The next car down the left lane, the K&N Filters Pontiac of Warren Johnson spun the tires hard off the starting line in the same left lane. The Gruninger Motorsports Dodge then lined up for their second attempt of the day.

After a sterling 0.985 second 60 foot time, Gruninger appeared to be on a very much improved qualifying attempt. However, the car started to spin the tires 300 feet into the run, the car got loose and Gruninger wisely shut the engine off to save parts and the car from further damage. The end result was a mid-eight second elapsed time. The run did produce some good information for tomorrow’s two qualifying sessions.

“The car was on a great pass in Q-2,” stated Gruninger. “That 60 foot time was very similar to our 6.657 elapsed time recorded last week. Had the car not lost traction 300 feet down the track, I’m sure we’d be sitting pretty in the top 12 cars. I am disappointed because the car usually does not get loose that far down track. And several cars had issues with the left lane in that final session. We’ll take a look at the run data and try to figure out what went wrong, but I’m confident our USRECOGNITION.COM Dodge will run solid tomorrow in Q-3.”

To learn more about the USRECOGNITION.COM Pro Stock Dodge team and their driver Danny Gruninger, please visit our Danny Gruninger CRX Team Page.

You can keep up to date with up to the minute race results posted on dragracecentral.com

“Our goal is firm; to race on Sunday this weekend in Phoenix,” noted the highly competitive athlete Gruninger, who competed in (4) Little League World Series and was a Colorado high school state golf champion. “We made some significant improvements to our Pro Stock program last weekend in Pomona; decreasing our career best elapsed time three times out of four qualifying runs. We eventually ended up recording a 6.657 second elapsed time which was only 0.007 seconds away from making the show. I’m confident we can find that extra time somewhere in this USRECOGNITION.COM Pro Stock Dodge.”

As much as the Pro Stock sophomore competitor would love to hit a hole-in-one this weekend by not only qualifying for the Arizona Nationals but winning the event, the level-headed and mild-mannered graphic designer for USRECOGNITION.COM is aware of how goals are accomplished for his team.

“First we need to simply make the show, once we do that, heck anything is possible,” said Gruninger, who actually did have his first hole-in-one at Foothills golf club in May 2009. “We qualified at last year’s Mopar Mile High Nationals and gave Allen Johnson a run for his money in the first round. He had us covered by more than a tenth of a second in qualifying, but we gave him a good race. I’d love to run against these guys in eliminations this weekend that’s for sure.”

Gruninger and the USRECOGNITION.COM Pro Stock team will begin their qualifying efforts on Friday with two sessions scheduled. They will have two more attempts to crack the 16-car field on Saturday.

For more information about Gruninger and the USRECOGNITION.COM Pro Stock Dodge team, please visit our Danny Gruninger CRX Team Page.

After incrementally increasing the USRECOGNITION.COM PRO STOCK DODGE’s career best elapsed time in 3 out of 4 qualifying attempts at the season opening NHRA Winternationals, the Denver, Colo. based team can’t wait for their next race in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

The team began their qualifying effort on Thursday afternoon with a solid 6.69 second elapsed time which stood as the 15^th quickest elapsed time in the Pro Stock class this day. “The air was very good on Thursday, hovering around 2000 foot corrected altitude,” noted driver Danny Gruninger. “We put together a solid base line tune up and that .69 surprised us all. We knew this was a number and run we could tune with for the rest of the weekend.”

The kid was right.

The graphic artist for US RECOGNITION and former high school Colorado State Golf Champion, Gruninger then increased his career best E.T. by one-hundredth of a second in Q-2 on Friday, netting a solid 6.681 second elapsed time. Tire shake and a tricky track plagued the Hemi powered Dodge Pro Stock team’s third qualifying effort on Saturday morning, which placed Gruninger nearly three hundredths of a second away from cracking the elite 16-car qualified field.

Danny Gruninger launches on his career best pass of 6.657 seconds in the final qualfing session in Pomona, Calif.

“We knew coming into this race, qualifying for the 50^th Winternationals would be an amazing accomplishment for us,” noted Gruninger. “With the performance of this newly freshened Bob Panella Hemi engine and the fact we did absolutely no testing in the pre season, we thought we had a shot at improving our qualifying position a little, but we are astonished on what we produced in Q-4.”

Gruninger staged the USRECOGNITION.COM Pro Stock Dodge on a hot race track, with a corrected altitude at the worst level during the weekend for the final qualifying attempt. In order to qualify for the field, the Colorado invaders needed to increase their career best elapsed time by more than two-hundredths of a second; an eternity in Pro Stock racing. Gruninger and crew were up to the task however, as the USRECOGNITION.COM Pro Stock Dodge traveled the quarter mile in 6.657 seconds at a speed of 207.54 miles per hour. The effort momentarily placed Gruninger in the 16^th qualified position. And for approximately 90 seconds, Gruninger was racing on Sunday. A 6.622 second run by New Mexico’s Johnny Gray ended the race day plans for the 23-year old Pro Stock sophomore, as he was bumped out of the field and relegated to the 18^th position.

“The weekend was a tremendous success,” concluded Gruninger. “We got to race at the historic 50^th NHRA Winternationals, we ran our best performance by nearly half-a-tenth of a second, and we got some incredible run data for our next race. The USRECOGNITION.COM team did great in Pomona. And I can’t wait for our next race.”

The team has not disclosed which NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event is next on the schedule, however where ever it may be, the USRECONITION.COM Pro Stock Dodge will be ready to race.

To learn more about Danny Gruninger, please visit CRX Team Page and at the Gruninger family company website.

The sophomore driver of the USRECOGNITION.COM PRO STOCK DODGE from Denver, Colo. knocked one out of the ball park today in the first qualifying session for the 50^th Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals contested in Pomona, Calif. at Auto Club Raceway.

The four-time Little League World Series competitor uncorked a career best elapsed time when his USRECOGNITION.COM Dodge Stratus traveled the Pomona quarter mile in 6.698-seconds at a speed of 207.18 miles per hour. The run for the Gruninger Motorsports team served as the 15^th quickest elapsed time of the day in the ultra-tough NHRA Pro Stock division.

“We knew coming into this weekend our car would hopefully pick up the performance with a fresh Bob Panella prepared engine,” noted team owner Mark Gruninger, who along with his wife Brenda operate US RECOGNITION, a one stop shop for awards, trophies, silk screening, embroidery and more. “But to be honest, we really didn’t expect that 6.69 to come up on the score boards. We are extremely happy with our career best ET, but we also know this pass was a baseline run. I think we’ve got some more in this car.”

Gruninger noted the conservative 1.000-second 60 foot time as an area the team would like to improve on with tomorrows qualifying session.

“Right after we got the car back into our pit area, the guys who help us with the chassis set up instantly went to work on the shocks, trying to find a way for our car to launch a bit quicker,” Gruninger stated. “That’s where the learning curve has to begin for us in this class. If we can get this thing to improve by a hundredth of a second or two, in theory the car will incrementally improve down the race track”

2009 Pro Stock World Champion Mike Edwards set the pace in qualifying with a solid 6.580-second; 210 mph run to claim the provisional pole position after one session. At last year’s season finale’, the USRECOGNITION.COM DODGE was nearly two-tenths off the pace. Today, they improved the gap between themselves and the class’ perennial champion by 0.090 seconds from last year.

“That’s why we are here,” concluded Gruninger. “We know we are not going to set any records, but if we can minimize our mistakes, pick up a little here or there, I’m sure we will be able to compete with these big guys out here. We’re happy with today’s performance. We look forward to tomorrow’s qualifying effort.”

The Pro Stock category is scheduled to take to the Pomona quarter-mile tomorrow afternoon for the second of four qualifying sessions.

For more information about the USRECOGNITION.COM Danny Gruninger driven Pro Stock Dodge, please visit the team’s website at http://www.usrecognition.com or http://www.crxpromotions.com

Keep up to date with up to the minute results posted online at http://www.dragracecentral.com

PRO STOCK SOPHOMORE GRUNINGER READY FOR NEW SEASON

Denver, Colo. – 23-year old NHRA Pro Stock driver Danny Gruninger is race ready and mentally prepared for the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series to begin.

The sophomore Pro Stock driver from Denver, Colo. enters the 50th Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals at Pomona, Calif., Feb. 11-14, with a rejuvenated spirit and freshly built 500-cubic inch Mopar Hemi engine prepared by former NHRA Pro Stock Truck champion Bob Panella. His Jerry Haas built 2007 Dodge Stratus will hit historic Auto Club Raceway in Pomona on Thursday afternoon in attempt to qualify for a very tough 16-car Pro Stock field.

A four-time competitor in the Little League World Series representing the State of Colorado, and a former Colorado high school state golfing champion who earned his PGA tour card shortly after graduating from high school, Gruninger brings his lust for competition and athletic mental attitude to the NHRA behind the wheel of the six-second, 200 mph Gruninger Motorsports US RECOGNITION.COM Pro Stock Dodge. Outside of drag racing, Gruninger is a graphic artist for his family’s owned and operated business, US Recognition, a one stop shop for awards, embroidery, screen printing, promotional products and more.

“Last season we got our feet wet in this ultra-tough Pro Stock division and made some significant gains to our program,” noted Gruninger, who prior to entering the NHRA professional categories last season captured two NHRA Wally’s in the Super Gas and Competition Eliminator divisions respectfully. “We are confident our USRECOGNITION.COM Pro Stock Dodge will pick up the performance this season. If we can crack this field at Pomona and race on Sunday, it will be a significant accomplishment.”

Gruninger and his USRECOGNITION.COM team are aware how competitive the Pro Stock division can be. At last year’s season ending NHRA World Finals, the Pro Stock number one qualifier Mike Edwards ran a stellar 6.56 second elapsed time, nearly two tenths of a second quicker than the Gruninger Motorsports weekend best elapsed time of 6.741 seconds. However, the Colorado team is not intimidated in the slightest bit.

“Our goal is to race with the best in the world,” stated Gruninger. “With every pass down the track our car gets that much quicker. We learn more about how to adjust the clutch, the suspension and all the moving parts on this hot rod. With a fresh Bob Panella prepared power-plant under the hood, we are hoping to step it up quite a bit. If nothing else, we’re going to have fun at the 50^th NHRA Winternationals. It’s a historic race and we are honored to be able to compete this weekend.”

To learn more about Danny Gruninger and the USRECOGNITION.COM Pro Stock Dodge team, please visit their website at http://www.usrecognition.com or at http://www.crxpromotions.com

Keep up to date with the performance of the USRECOGNITION.COM Pro Stock Dodge team this weekend with instant results posted on http://www.dragracecentral.com.