McClenathan is runner-up at U.S. Nationals

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2010 NHRA FULL THROTTLE DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 18 of 23
Round 1 of six in Countdown to the Championship
56th annual U.S. Nationals
O'Reilly Raceway Park
Clermont, Ind.
Sept. 3-6, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

MCCLENATHAN IS RUNNER-UP AT U.S. NATIONALS

CLERMONT, Ind. (Sept. 6, 2010) - No. 2 qualifier Cory McClenathan continued
his hot streak of reaching final rounds this year, landing in his seventh of
the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series in today's 56th annual U.S.
Nationals and the first of six races of the Countdown to the Championship.
He won three of those, but today he lost his second straight final-round
match-up to points leader and No. 1 qualifier Larry Dixon.

Driving the FRAM Top Fuel dragster, arguably the hottest and most consistent
rail in the series this year, McClenathan first eliminated Terry McMillen
with a round-best 3.811-second elapsed time at 324.05 mph, then dismissed TJ
Zizzo with another round-best 3.821/321.27. In an all-Don Schumacher Racing
semifinal contest against his teammate Tony Schumacher, both cars launched
with identical reaction times and both struck their tires, resulting in a
pedalfest to the finish line. "Cory Mac" recovered first and crossed the
stripe in 4.342 seconds at 236.05 mph, to Schumacher's losing 4.406/235.76.

McClenathan's final-round face-off against Dixon produced an excellent race
for the fans under hotter conditions than they had seen the previous three
days. It also resulted in McClenathan's fifth round loss to Dixon this year.
They raced wheel to wheel down the 1000-foot race track, but it was Dixon
first across the line with a 3.838/319.60 to McClenathan's 3.870/319.82.
Margin of victory: .0456 of a second.

Cory Mac held on to second place in the point standings, and is just 46
markers shy of first place.

³Last year we went into the Countdown in Concord, N.C., not Indy and next
thing you know you¹re at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis and you¹ve got
all the drama of that, you¹re at home (he lives in Fisher's, Ind.), it's Don
Schumacher Racing's home, and it's early in the Countdown. So, yeah, that¹s
a lot to chew," said the two-time U.S. Nationals champion.

"I was thinking about that up there right when we started the car, so I had
plenty of motivation today and that¹s a good thing. Sometimes the pressure
can make you the best and we were good, and everybody did a great job.

³You know what, you always think it¹s your time," he said of his chances of
finally beating Dixon this year. "I mean, the tables will turn eventually
and they just have a very stellar car right now. Larry is a good driver. We
brought our A-game today; we had a good day.

"(Crew chiefs) Todd (Okuhara) and Phil (Shuler) and the FRAM boys did their
job with their excellent tuning abilities. In the semis, I was able to kind
of help them. It¹s my job to help when I can, and that¹s a big deal.

"While it's great to get to the finals in Indy, you want to win it, so it
was tough to lose. We just need to keep making sure they know we¹re there.

³Larry and his wife both said at the other end today that they were scared.
They said they were worried; they knew we had a good car. Right now, if
there¹s a car out there that should be scaring everybody, it should be this
FRAM Top Fuel dragster.²

Next up is the third annual NHRA Carolinas Nationals in Concord, N.C., Sept.
17-19.

UNOFFICIAL POINT STANDINGS, after one of six races of Countdown to the
Championship (18 for the year):
1. Larry Dixon, 2234 (winner today)
2. Cory McClenathan, 2188 (runner-up today)
3. Tony Schumacher, 2147
4. Shawn Langdon, 2102
5. Brandon Bernstein, 2095
6. Doug Kalitta, 209
7. Antron Brown, 2087
8. Morgan Lucas, 2073
9. Steve Torrence, 2063
10. Dave Grubnic, 2035

***