McClenathan is runner-up in Vegas

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2010 NHRA FULL THROTTLE DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 6 of 23
11th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals
The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
April 16-18, 2010

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

MCCLENATHAN IS RUNNER-UP IN VEGAS

LAS VEGAS (April 18, 2010) - Cory McClenathan was Top Fuel runner-up today
to Larry Dixon at the 11th annual NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas
Motor Speedway. He slipped to second in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing
Series class point standings and is one marker behind leader Dixon. This was
his 60th career final round and third of the season.

Qualifying fourth, the driver of the FRAM Top Fuel dragster enjoyed lane
choice throughout the day until the final round, having dismissed Terry
Haddock with a 3.906-second lap at 312.35 mph in the first round, then his
Don Schumacher Racing teammate Tony Schumacher with a 3.987/303.64 in the
quarterfinal. In the semifinal he defeated Brandon Bernstein with a
3.986/304.39. Dixon, however, entered the final round after pulling out a
quicker 3.910/313.88 lap in the semis.

"Cory Mac" and Dixon took off with nearly identical reaction times, but
McClenathan struck the tires early, made a valiant attempt to pedal it to
the finish line, but fell short with his 5.113/158.41 pass to Dixon's
winning 4.016/313.37.

"We knew we were taking a chance, we knew we had to step up, we knew they
were going to try to run good, so we did what we thought we needed to do to
run our lane, and we just couldn't recover quick enough," said McClenathan.

"Lane choice was very crucial today on a tricky race track (under a hot sun
and 124-degree track temperature). It's not the facility, it's just a tricky
race track. When the sun hits it it changes things. Unfortunately, there
wasn't enough haze or cloud cover out there to make it cooler.

"There's plenty of races left and we're certainly not out of the chase.
We're testing here tomorrow. We're going to test the new Goodyear tires and
some components for the future for DSR."

Next up is the 14th annual NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway International
Raceway in Madison, Ill., just over the bridge from St. Louis.

UNOFFICIAL TOP FUEL POINT STANDINGS, after six of 23 events:
1. Larry Dixon, 556 (winner today)
2. Cory McClenathan, 555 (runner-up today)
3. Doug Kalitta, 458
4. Antron Brown, 441
5. Tony Schumacher, 423
6. Shawn Langdon, 328
7. Morgan Lucas, 299
8. Brandon Bernstein, 292
9. Dave Grubnic, 238
10. Steve Torrence, 238

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