Cory Mac places AirHog No. 9 at Texas Motorplex
Visit our website at www.carrierboyzracing.com CARRIER BOYZ RACING ANDY CARRIER and MARK CARRIER -- OWNERS NHRA POWERADE DRAG RACING SERIES FRAM AIRHOG TOP FUEL DRAGSTER CORY McCLENATHAN -- DRIVER TODD SMITH - CREW CHIEF 20TH ANNUAL NHRA O'REILLY FALL NATIONALS Presented by Castrol Syntec TEXAS MOTORPLEX - DALLAS SEPTEMBER 22-25, 2005 (CANCELED DUE TO HURRICANE RITA) RAIN DATE: OCTOBER 6-9, 2005 Qualifying: Session 1 Friday: 4.635 seconds at 327.74 mph (# 7) Session 2 Friday: 11.472 seconds at 80.34 mph (# 10) Session 1 Saturday: 4.561 seconds at 320.66 mph (# 9) Session 2 Saturday: 4.558 seconds at 325.30 mph (# 9) Cory Mac places FRAM AirHog No. 9 at Texas Motorplex Nails down sixth spot in Budweiser Shootout ENNIS, Texas (October 8, 2005) - Since its opening twenty years ago, the Texas Motorplex, with its all-concrete track, has been living up to its billing as being both fast and quick and qualifying for this year's 20th annual NHRA O'Reilly Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec was no exception, with track records being reset in every pro class. Cory McClenathan, from Lake Havasu City, Ariz., saved the best for last as he turned in a run of 4.558 seconds in his final qualifying pass placing his Carrier Boyz Racing FRAM AirHog Top Fuel dragster No. 9 on the final Top Fuel qualifying ladder. The Top Fuel field ranged from a pass of 4.936 seconds by No. 16 qualifier Bill Ancona to the quickest run of the weekend thus far, a track record 4.441 second pass by No. 1 qualifier Doug Herbert. In Friday's two qualifying sessions, McClenathan had tire shake but managed a respectable pass in the opening session then loss traction, again from tire shake, in the evening stanza. The evening session on Friday is usually the quickest of the four qualifying runs. In the first session it was an elapsed time of 4.635 seconds for the FRAM AirHog dragster, while in the evening pass McClenathan coasted to a disappointing 11.472-second elapsed time. Saturday dawned a new day and times improved for the Carrier Boyz Racing dragster. In the opening run, McClenathan turned in his best pass thus far when he ran the quarter-mile in 4.561 seconds to move into the ninth spot. He then bettered this run in the final session when he covered the Texas Motorplex track in 4.558 seconds, remaining ninth. Cory Mac will face No. 8 qualifier Doug Kalitta in tomorrow's first round. Kalitta ran a best of four qualifying passes at 4.518 seconds. "While we wished that this FRAM AirHog dragster had finished in the top half of the field, we must now start from the ninth position and try to work our way to the final round. The odds may not be in our favor but we will try to play the spoiler role in who gains point in the POWERade point battle. Like them we want to win this race and are going to go all out to do just that, no matter who is in the other lane," said McClenathan following qualifying. BUDWEISER SHOOTOUT UPDATE: With qualifying now finalized for the Budweiser Shootout, McClenathan clinched a guaranteed spot in the shootout, qualifying No. 6. McClenathan was locked in a three-way battle with David Grubnic and Scott Kalitta for positions six through eight in the Shootout eight-car field. By qualifying ninth, in this the final race at which a driver could earn qualifying points for the Budweiser Shootout, McClenathan picked up 5 points on Kalitta, who qualified 10th, and 20 points on Grubnic, who qualified 13th. The final qualifying results for positions six through eight of the Budweiser Shootout field will find McClenathan No. 6, Kalitta No. 7 and Grubnic No. 8. Only the top seven point earners are guaranteed a spot in the eight-car Shootout field. The eighth position will be determined by a lottery-style drawing from the eighth through 15th qualifiers. "We did what we set out to do," said McClenathan. "Not too many races ago this Carrier Boyz Racing team was in eighth place, not a comfortable place to be. We knew that we had to qualify this FRAM AirHog dragster high and pick up points on both Scott Kalitta and David Grubnic, who occupied the two places in front of us. Todd Smith (crew chief) and his guys did their job and did it well and we ended up in sixth. Now it's time for the Shootout at the next race in Vegas. "Now that we're qualified, our next goal is to take home some Budweiser dollars. I'm just competitive enough, okay greedy enough, to want to take home 100,000 big ones." The Budweiser Shootout, a special event held on Sat., Oct. 22, during the NHRA ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, will feature a race-day purse of $147,000, with $100,000 going to the winner. The runner-up will earn $15,000. The two semifinalists will earn $6,000 each and the four first-round finishers $5,000 apiece. This will be McClenathan's 13th appearance in the Budweiser Shootout. ELIMINATIONS: McClenathan begins his quest for the Top Fuel title on Sunday with eliminations for all classes getting underway at 11 a.m. Time is local Dallas time -- Central Time (CT) - 1 hour behind Eastern Time (ET) -- and subject to change at anytime. TELEVISION: ESPN2 will air three hours of same-day television coverage of eliminations beginning at 8 p.m. on Sunday evening (Oct. 9). The elimination show repeats on ESPN2 early Friday morning, Oct. 14, from 3 until 5 a.m. Also, tune in to NHRA2Day on ESPN2, the weekly show that gives you the latest information about the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. NHRA2Day can be seen on Sunday morning, Oct. 9 at 11:30 a.m. Television times are Eastern Time (ET) and subject to change at anytime. Check local listings. Headquartered in Danbury, Conn., FRAM®, the official filter of the NHRA®, is a unit of Honeywell Consumer Products Group, which manufactures and markets the FRAM AirHog^(TM) air filter and other quality FRAM automotive filters. The Honeywell Consumer Products Group also includes Prestone® antifreeze/coolant and car care products, Autolite® spark plugs and ignition wire sets and Holts® car care products. For additional information visit the following websites: FRAM at www.fram.com and FRAM AirHog at www.framairhog.com or call 1-800-862-7737. For 2005, Carrier Boyz Racing and primary marketing partners FRAM and Honeywell welcome the support of our associate marketing partners: American Racing Wheels, Autolite Spark Plugs, Bendix by Honeywell, Fabtech Performance Suspensions, GMC, Mac Tools, Prestone Antifreeze, PurePower Lubricants and Torco Race Fuels/Skull Gear. Visit our website at www.carrierboyzracing.com for the most current team news, race results and team merchandise.