INTERVIEW: Gray Gaulding keeps a positive attitude in Sonoma debut

Gaulding (in white) and the Earthwater squad on the grid. PHOTO: Brock Beard

Like fellow Toyota driver Parker Kligerman, 20-year-old Gray Gaulding had never before raced at the Sonoma Raceway prior to Sunday. In Happy Hour on Friday, his first timed lap put him 17th on the charts before he settled for 29th. He qualified in the same spot, ahead of seven other Chartered teams. We caught up with Gaulding on the grid before the race between photographs with VIPs from returning sponsor Earthwater.

IN PRACTICE, YOU WERE 17TH AFTER YOUR FIRST LAP ON THE SONOMA RACEWAY. WHERE DID THAT LAP COME FROM?
GAULDING: “You know, I don’t know. I just have a knack for road racing. It’s actually my first time in Cup doing road racing, but I did a little bit in Trucks and K&N, but I knew as soon as I took my first lap around here, I was like ‘I’m gonna like this place a lot.’ So, my guys gave me a pretty neutral car, I could turn left and right pretty easy, and I just went out there and hustled the heck out of it, man. We had a good qualifying yesterday, we got some speed in the car, so as long as we keep the fenders on it and have some good stops today, I think we’ll have a good result.”

EARTHWATER REJOINED YOU GUYS AS SPONSOR THIS WEEK. WILL WE SEE THEM BACK IN MORE RACES?
GAULDING: “Yeah, I think it’s still coming together, but you know, it’s like you said, it’s good to see them back on the car. I can’t thank Earthwater enough, and thank them for supporting our team and believing in us, every race they sponsor us in, and hopefully today we give them a good showing. It’s been a great weekend so far, you know, giving them the best R.O.Y. we can as far as giving them a little T.V. time, getting our name up on the charts, and doing the best we can because a lot of people don’t know we are a small team and every dollar that comes in this team counts, and Earthwater’s just been our main, main backer this year and they’ve done a great job, and I can’t thank them enough for believing in me and our team.”

LISTENING TO YOU ON THE RADIO, YOU COME OFF VERY POSITIVE, SOMETIMES CHEERING YOUR TEAM ALONG. WHAT DRIVES THAT IN YOU?
GAULDING: “Absolutely. You know, we’re – it’s fun coming to the race track, you know, knowing we’re a small team, but I know with the key people we have and with my driving ability, we can beat these guys. I mean, look who we’ve out-qualified today. I mean, we’re in front of Ty Dillon, that’s a full ECR deal, and here we are, you know, we don’t get much practice because of tires and, you know, we don’t have all the horsepower in the world, but we have the right people and the right attitudes and the right drive every single week to go out and get the job done. So, me as a driver it gives me a lot of drive to say, ‘hey, man, I’m a young driver, I’m only 20 years old, racing at the highest level,’ and to be able to do it with a team that, you know, is still trying to get over that hump, it’s a lot of fun for me because I feel like I bring a lot of, you know, hungriness to the race team and all my guys believe in me and they know I can get it done. So, it’s been a fun few weeks. We’re getting better every single week.”