McClenathan's Reading race day ends in quarterfinals

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2009 NHRA FULL THROTTLE DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 17 of 24
25th annual NHRA NATIONALS
Maple Grove Raceway
Mohnton, Pa.
Aug. 21-23, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

MCCLENATHAN'S READING RACE DAY ENDS IN QUARTERFINALS

MOHNTON, Pa. (Aug. 23, 2009) - On a day which saw over a four-hour delay
before the second round of Top Fuel eliminations was run, due to water
seeping through the track surface, Cory McClenathan was defeated in the
quarterfinal by Spencer Massey at the 25th annual NHRA Nationals at Maple
Grove Raceway.

He took out Clay Millican in the opening stanza despite losing traction at
the top end. Millican also smoked the tires, but McClenathan's came later
and he was able to recover to take the win with a 4.255-second elapsed time
at 236.17 mph to Millican's 4.597/207.85.

In his match-up over Massey, McClenathan and the FRAM Tough Guard team were
forced to shut down after a quick startup when water began to seep again at
the end of the track. After a short delay, McClenathan and Massey started up
again. Both cars traveled the 1000-mile track without incident, with Massey
taking the win with a 3.965/291.19 to McClenathan's 3.990/285.05.

"Cory Mac" moved up one spot in the Top Fuel point standings, and is now No.
4, with one race left before the Countdown to 1 playoffs begin for the top
10 following the U.S. Nationals on Labor Day weekend for the final six
events.

"It was hard for the fans, it was hard for the drivers, it was hard for the
crew guys, and it was hard for everybody to wait this long to run a race,²
said McClenathan. ³It's really nobody's fault. Mother Nature just kind of
gave us a rough time this weekend.

"With only two qualifying runs going into eliminations, we thought we had a
pretty good handle on everything. We expected to run some kind of mid-3.90
and Massey and his team were just better, all the way around. A little bit
on the starting line, a little bit on the race car, And that paid dividends
for those guys.

"The good thing is we went around Brandon Bernstein and we're fourth in
points going into Indy. Thatıs a good thing. We're excited about that. Mixed
emotions I guess, but it's hard to wait that long and try to get back up as
a driver for a race."

Next up is the 55th annual U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, Sept. 4-7, 2009.

UNOFFICIAL TOP FUEL POINT STANDINGS, after 17 of 24 events:
1. Antron Brown, 1435
2. Larry Dixon, 1248 (winner today)
3. Tony Schumacher, 1194
4. Cory McClenathan, 1040
5. Brandon Bernstein, 1029
6. Morgan Lucas, 981
7. Spencer Massey, 980 (runner-up today)
8. Shawn Langdon, 932
9. Doug Kalitta, 765
10. Clay Millican, 682
11. Joe Hartley, 679
12. Terry Haddock, 438

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