The 19-year-old has endured a rough first half of his maiden Supercars season after being drafted in to replace veteran Will Davison.
Gray’s struggles were in the spotlight following the Darwin Triple Crown, where he was out-performed on the Sunday by substitute teammate Todd Hazelwood.
The rookie bounced back with a maiden Top 10 Shootout appearance on Saturday in Townsville, only for a broken anti-roll bar blade to hamper his race.
“It’s sheared in two. It’s the first time we’ve ever seen one break like this,” said DJR boss Ryan Story on PG and the Doc.
“It’s a control part; all the cars have got the same component in them.
“From contact pretty early on in the race, I think it might have been as early as lap 2, he was nursing a fairly damaged Ford Mustang to the flag.”
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The team believes the damage was the result of contact from the Turn 5 apex kerb, rather than another car.
Gray struggled to 17th in the 200km race, which was bookended by a 17th on Friday and a 15th on Sunday.
“When you have a component like that break, it’s the difference between a car that does what it’s meant to do (and) is predictable and repeatable for the driver, compared to one that’s really quite difficult to drive,” added Story.
“To have made it home and finished the race with damage as significant as that was impressive to say the least.”
Gray is 19th in the standings with just two top 10 finishes from the first 22 races of the season.
He is 16 places behind teammate Brodie Kostecki, who on Sunday stormed to his sixth victory of 2026.
“He continues to put his year together,” said Story of Gray, who joined the team on a multi-year deal.
“For him, we were delighted for him to get into the Shootout because once he starts to string these things together, the results will come.
“He’s learning on the fly. He’s the youngest driver in the field.
“Being a rookie in Supercars is a tough gig at the best of times, but he’s slowly putting it together and we will continue to see some hallmark results as the year continues and he continues to hone his craft.”
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