Carrier Boyz Racing: McClenathan seeks fourth win at Texas Motorplex
Visit our website at www.carrierboyzracing.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 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 MEDIA CONTACT: Mickey Schultz PHONE: 770-476-8477 E-MAIL: mschultz@bellsouth.net 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 McClenathan seeks fourth win at Texas Motorplex Also looks to nail down spot in Budweiser Shootout ENNIS, Texas (October 6, 2005) - Since joining the Top Fuel ranks in 1991, Cory McClenathan, who drives the Carrier Boyz Racing FRAM AirHog Top Fuel dragster, seeks his fourth win at the 20th anniversary edition of the NHRA O'Reilly Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec when qualifying for the professional classes gets underway on Friday at the Texas Motorplex. McClenathan has three wins in five final rounds on the all-concrete Texas Motorplex quarter-mile track, just outside Dallas, near Ennis, Texas. He won here in 1996, 1997 and 2000. He finished in the runner-up position in 1994 and 2002. "For whatever the reasons, I've always done well at the Motorplex," said McClenathan. "Maybe it's the concrete track. Maybe it's because it's consistently quick and fast. Whatever the reason, I would like to get number four this weekend. "I'm still looking for my first win of the season and there are only three races left to do that. I love this track and hope that my first win with FRAM comes here." Entering this weekend's O'Reilly Fall Nationals, McClenathan, from Lake Havasu City, Ariz., is ninth in the NHRA POWERade Top Fuel point standings. He has 999 points, just 8 points behind eighth. During qualifying, McClenathan is also looking to clinch a spot in 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, Currently McClenathan is locked in a three-way battle with David Grubnic and Scott Kalitta for positions six through eight. McClenathan, who is No. 6 with 2960 points, leads both Grubnic and Kalitta by 60 points entering the final event at which they can earn points for the Shootout. 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. Points for the Budweiser Shootout are awarded based on how a driver qualifies: No. 1 qualifier earns 175 points, No. 2 earns 165 points, No. 3 earns 155 points, and No. 4 earns 145 points. Points then decrease by five points for qualifying positions five through 16 (with No. 5 earning 140 points down to No. 16 earning 85 points). So every point is important. "We want to first be guaranteed a spot in the Budweiser Shootout, so we have to qualify high this weekend. After that we want to go to Vegas, do well and take home $100,000 of Budweiser's money," said McClenathan. Anheuser-Busch provides an overall purse of $239,000 for the popular Budweiser Shootout program in 2005. The Shootout 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. McClenathan has appeared in 12 previous Budweiser Shootouts. QUALIFYING: Qualifying for the 20th running of the O'Reilly Fall Nationals begins for McClenathan and the Carrier Boyz Racing FRAM AirHog Dragster on Friday at the Texas Motorplex with two nitro fuel sessions scheduled for 5 and 7:30 p.m. Nitro fuel qualifying concludes with two additional sessions on Saturday, at 12:30 and 3:30 p.m. McClenathan begins his quest for the Top Fuel title on Sunday with eliminations for all classes getting underway at 11 a.m. Times are local Dallas time -- Central Time (CT) - 1 hour behind Eastern Time (ET) -- and subject to change at anytime. TELEVISION: Qualifying highlights for the NHRA O'Reilly Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec can be seen on ESPN2 on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 8) from 4-6 p.m. ESPN2 will also 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. -30-