McClenathan ends up No. 6 in U.S. Nationals qualifying

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2009 NHRA FULL THROTTLE DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 18 of 24
55th annual U.S. Nationals
Raceway Park at Indianapolis
Sept. 4-7, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

McCLENATHAN ENDS UP NO. 6 QUALIFIER FOR U.S. NATIONALS

INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 6, 2009) - Cory McClenathan and the FRAM Tough Guard Top
Fuel dragster team were unable to improve today as temperatures continued to
cool at Raceway Park at Indianapolis following a long rain delay, slipping
from No. 2 to No. 6 in final qualifying for the U.S. Nationals.

Only one qualifying round of two expected today (to complete the five for
the weekend) was run because of a long rain delay, and McClenathan watched
his competitors in front of him jump to the front of the pack in nearly
every pairing. First it was Brandon Bernstein, then it was Tony Schumacher,
and finally it was Antron Brown's pass that stuck for No. 1.

McClenathan lost traction in his attempt, posting a 4.806-second lap at
148.15 mph, which dropped him to No. 6.
 
³I think, considering that the rain delay went on as long as it did, and it
dropped a pretty decent amount of water, NHRA did a great job of getting it
cleaned up so the fans could at  least enjoy one round of good racing," said
McClenathan. "But, for the FRAM Tough Guard car, we saw those stellar
numbers come up on the board and we knew we really needed to push it.

"We knew it was going to be an all-or-nothing type of deal and it was kind
of like, 'we need to push this car and see what its possibilities are and
then back it up a little bit.' Now, we can go race it tomorrow with all the
confidence in the world. Weıll have lane choice, and thatıs a good thing.

"We kind of feel like we got our pocket picked a little bit, to go out there
in second and come back in sixth. It's a little bit tough to take but, you
know what, it doesnıt matter. It doesnıt matter who we race. Weıre going to
race everybody just like we would our own teammate, and Tony (Schumacher)
ran well. He ran 3.83 (for second place), so weıll be able to take some data
off his car and utilize it tomorrow.

"Monday is a whole other day, and it is Indy, so anything can happen.²

McClenathan will face David Grubnic in the opening round of Monday's
eliminations.

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