Graduating to the main game after winning the Super2 Series with Tickford Racing in 2025, Gray sits 21st in the standings after four rounds.
The 19-year-old was signed by DJR at the encouragement of lead driver Brodie Kostecki, who has taken the youngster under his wing.
Kostecki is currently second in the standings with five race wins, setting a high benchmark for Gray to chase.
“There’s so much you can absorb from him,” said Gray of being teammates with Kostecki.
“He’s won Bathurst, he’s won a championship, he’s won everything you want to win entering this category.
“He gives me a kick up the butt if I’m doing something wrong, which is actually really good in a teammate, he wants to see me do well.
Secure your spot today.
“I want to get up there and then fight it with him, but I couldn’t ask for a better teammate to be honest. It’s good to have all his data and video to look over.”
Gray scored his first two top 10 finishes of the season last time out at Christchurch, although a lap one Sunday crash meant it ended on a sour note.
“It’s been a pretty tough start to be honest, which I sort of expected coming into the main series,” he reflected of the season to date.
“We had a pretty terrible first round in New Zealand at Taupo but we turned it around pretty good for Christchurch.
“With no one being there [previously], I sort of knew it would help us out a bit. We had a couple of top 10s which is good, then a not so great Sunday.”
Gray said qualifying has been his biggest struggle to date and the subject of recent simulation work to “get that one lap nailed” and fight in the top 10 consistently.
“We’ve had a lot of race pace the whole time through every single round, we just haven’t really put qualifying together,” he said.
“We always move forward in the races, I’ve got that sorted now, we just need to qualify better.”
Nowhere on the Supercars calendar is qualifying more important than on the 2.41km Symmons Plains bullring.
Gray scored his first Super2 pole and race win at the venue last year, but is under no illusions about the challenge ahead.
“Tassie was a good round for me last year… but obviously the level is a lot higher in main game,” he said.
“We’ve got to put everything together.”
Practice for the Tasmania Super440 kicks off on Friday.
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