Carrier Boyz Racing: Cory Mac starts No. 3 in Budweiser Shootout
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 WES CERNY - CREW CHIEF MEDIA CONTACT: Mickey Schultz PHONE: 770-476-8477 E-MAIL: mschultz@bellsouth.net 21ST BUDWEISER SHOOTOUT FIFTH ANNUAL NHRA ACDELCO LAS VEGAS NATIONALS THE STRIP AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY - LAS VEGAS OCTOBER 20-23, 2005 Cory Mac starts No. 3 in Budweiser Shootout LAS VEGAS (October 20, 2005) - Cory McClenathan, driver of the Carrier Boyz Racing FRAM AirHog Top Fuel Dragster, will start from the No. 3 position for the 21st annual Budweiser Shootout, a special race-within-a-race for Top Fuel drivers being held Saturday during this weekend's NHRA ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This will mark McClenathan's 13th start in the Budweiser Shootout. He has finished runner-up three times (1992, 1994 and 1996). This ties him with Kenny Bernstein's 13 appearances, the second most among Top Fuel drivers. Only Joe Amato, with 16 appearances, has more Top Fuel Budweiser Shootout starts. "I hope that come late Saturday that I'm the one on top of the Budweiser Beer wagon as it parades the winner in front of the grandstands on the way to pick up a hundred grand of Budweiser money." said McClenathan. "The Bud Shootout always means a lot. "I've been in several Budweiser Shootout finals before, but that's been a few years back. Just trying to go a couple rounds now are tough. Last year, I lost on a holeshot to Brandon Bernstein in the first round. This year we need to step it up a bit and see if we can't go some rounds. "We're matched against Bernstein again this year. But this time it's not going to happen (the way it did last year)." Since last year's fall event at Las Vegas, Top Fuel drivers have been earning points based on how they qualify at each race. Only the top seven point earners were guaranteed a position and of the seven only the No. 1 qualifier was guaranteed that position. McClenathan and the other five drivers in positions 2-7 were placed on the qualifying ladder by random drawing held tonight at "The Joint" inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The eighth and final position was also determined by drawing among the drivers that qualified in positions 8-15. Last year's winner Dave Grubnic, who was among the participants that pulled for the eighth and final position, drew the Budweiser bottle with the sought after No. 8 and will face off against No. 1 qualifier Tony Schumacher in the opening round of the Shootout. First-round match ups after the random draw finds on one side of the ladder: No 1 Tony Schumacher vs. No. 8 David Grubnic and No. 4 Doug Kalitta vs. No. 5 Larry Dixon. The other side of the Shootout ladder pairs: No. 2 Morgan Lucas vs. No. 7 Scott Kalitta and No. 3 Cory McClenathan vs. No. 6 Brandon Bernstein. Budweiser, the Official Beer of the NHRA, has posted a purse of $147,000 for the eight drivers in the Budweiser Shootout with $100,000 going to the winner. In addition to the winner's share, the runner-up will collect $15,000. The two semifinalists will earn $6,000 each and the four first-round finishers, $5,000 each. In addition, Budweiser pays the No. 1 Top Fuel qualifier at each race a bonus of $4,000; this brings the total purse to $235, 000. In addition to the Budweiser purse, the winner of the Budweiser Shootout will receive a $50,000 bonus from NHRA should he also win the ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals. The schedule for the Budweiser Shootout on Saturday is as follows: Introduction of drivers (1 p.m.); Round 1 (1:30 P.M.); Round 2 - Semifinals (3:15 p.m.); and Round 3 - Finals (4:50 p.m.). Times are local Las Vegas time - same as Pacific Time (PT) - 3 hour behind Eastern Time (ET) -- and subject to change at anytime. Television highlights of the Budweiser Shootout can be seen on ESPN2 at 10:30 p.m. (ET) on Saturday evening, October 22. Television times are subject to change at anytime. Check local listings. 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. 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. ####