McClenathan is third in Pomona opener qualifying

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
Round 1 of 24
NHRA Winternationals
Auto Club Raceway at Pomona
Pomona, Calif.
Feb. 5-8, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Judy Stropus, 203-438-0501; cell 203-243-2438;
jstropus@earthlink.net

MCLENATHAN IS THIRD IN POMONA QUALIFYING

POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 7, 2009) - With only one round of qualifying completed
after rain washed out Thursday and Friday qualifying runs and part of today,
Cory McClenathan emerged in No. 3 in the FRAM Top Fuel dragster at the NHRA
Winternationals, the season-opener of the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag
Racing Series.

McClenathan posted a 3.851-second elapsed time at 313.66 mph and will face
rookie Shawn Langdon in first round of eliminations on Sunday.

The FRAM team completed two test sessions in the last month in West Palm
Beach and Phoenix in advance of this weekend's event, where the team
concentrated on preparing the car for the season instead of blistering the
tracks with high speeds.

"A lot of people say testing is overrated and so I would say my guys just
did a great job," said McClenathan. "They really did. We learned a lot
during testing and we went out there and Lanny Miglizzi, our 'track
whisperer' for DSR, kept saying 'everybody's soft, everybody's soft, come up
here and go for it.' And we did. I'm really proud of Todd and Phil (crew
chiefs Okuhara and Shuler) and the FRAM guys. They did a great job.

"It went down there very smooth, no problem, no shake, no nothing. Brought
it back nice and clean. I think it's a great start for the FRAM Top Fuel
dragster this year."

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