McClenathan is No. 4 qualifier in Brainerd

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2009 NHRA FULL THROTTLE DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 16 of 24
28th annual NHRA NATIONALS
Brainerd (Minn.) International Raceway
Aug. 14-16, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

MCCLENATHAN IS NO. 4 QUALIFIER IN BRAINERD

BRAINERD, Minn. (Aug. 15, 2009) - Under cooler, overcast conditions today at
Brainerd International Raceway, Cory McClenathan qualified the FRAM Tough
Guard Top Fuel dragster in No. 4, relinquishing the top spot he earned in
Friday night's qualifying session to Morgan Lucas.

Only three rounds of qualifying were held for this event, as rain washed out
the final run today. McClenathan's last attempt to hold on to No. 1 resulted
in a 3.899-second pass at 306.74 mph, which was quicker than his
Friday-night run of 3.910/305.36, but not enough to dethrone Lucas, who ran
a 3.868/307.16.

"We left some on the table," said McClenathan, who clinched a spot in the
Countdown to 1 playoffs on Friday. "We had a little issue with it backfiring
through the manifold and it was really nothing big. We came back and
everything looked fine, it didn't hurt any pieces or parts, and it was just
a bummer that we didn't get that fourth qualifying session. I think we
really had something to go up there with. (Crew chiefs) Todd (Okuhara) and
Phil (Shuler) and the FRAM guys feel that we probably could have stepped
up."

McClenathan faces Tim Cullinan in first round of Sunday's eliminations.
McClenathanıs Don Schumacher Racing teammate, who was second to him in
Fridayıs qualifying run, fell to third behind Lucas and Larry Dixon.

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