McClenathan regains No. 1 on Friday in Pomona

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2010 NHRA FULL THROTTLE DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 1 of 23
50th ANNUAL NHRA WINTERNATIONALS
Auto Club Raceway at Pomona (Calif.)
Feb. 11-14, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

McCLENATHAN REGAINS NO. 1 ON FRIDAY IN POMONA

POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 13, 2010) - Under ideal conditions and driving the FRAM
Top Fuel dragster, Cory McClenathan took back the No. 1 position he earned
on Thursday and lost on Friday by posting a stellar 3.787-second pass at
320.05 mph in the final round of qualifying for the 50th annual NHRA
Winternationals.

He beat out Larry Dixon for the top spot, after Friday's No. 1 qualifier
came close, recording a 3.788/314.39 in the final pass and slipped to
second. McClenathan's Don Schumacher Racing teammate Tony Schumacher rounded
out the top three with a 3.801/320.05 in that session.

This marked McClenathan's 34th No. 1 of his career, third of the event and
his fifth at Auto Club Raceway.

His other laps included a 4.467/171.34 and a 3.838/319.98.

"We saw the air getting better and better and as the time went on we just
thought, What do we have to lose? We had nothing to lose here,² he said. ³We
knew both cars would run good. We knew Tony's car would run just about like
ours, if not a tick better. We knew Larry was going to be out there trying
to run hard.

"Todd (Okuhara, crew chief) came back and said 'It's going to be all or
nothing. It's going to go all the way or it's going to go about 60 feet, so
be ready.' By the time we got to half-track I knew we were on a good run.

"It's gratifying. I really owe it all to Todd and Phil (Shuler, co-crew
chief) and the guys who work on this FRAM car, I really do. They did an
awesome job through the off-season and then in testing and they were very
prepared for the race this weekend.

"Todd is the methodical one and Phil will just throw the whole trailer at
it. So, somewhere in between there we have a very good package and I think
they've done a great job together. They very much complement each other.
People don't realize, it's not one person anymore. It takes two good tuners
to be out there doing it. And that's why we call them co-crew chiefs.

"You're sitting there and it's this cool and the conditions are perfect," he
said, of waiting to run in the next-to-last pairing. "You see some cars go
out there and shake the tires. I know that we have enough power to pull any
tire out here, so I'm not worried about that. And obviously we're going to
keep the Goodyears on it.

"But, at the same time, to be able to go out there and get No. 1 back on the
last shot and have it for tomorrow is awesome. Now, the big thing is can you
take that No. 1 and parlay that into a win tomorrow? That's the big
question. We're going to try to do that. Be very consistent, go out there
and take each run and don't race the guy next to you, race the race track.
That's what we'll do tomorrow."

McClenathan faces Steve Faria in the opening round of Sunday's eliminations.

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