[coverattach=1]BROWNSBURG, Ind. (Feb. 17, 2009) - Despite the challenges of starting off a fresh NHRA season with different tuners, a whole-new crew and surviving long rain delays in the opening round of the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series in Pomona, Calif., Cory McClenathan was quick to give kudos to his FRAM Top Fuel team and sanctioning group NHRA following his quarterfinal finish last Tuesday.
As the FRAM team prepared for this weekend's NHRA Arizona Nationals, the second national event of the year, Pomona memories were still on the mind of McClenathan, who has two national-event wins at Firebird International Raceway (1994 and 1998).
"The rain in Pomona just seemed to kind of confuse and stagger everybody," he said. "Todd and Phil (crew chiefs Okuhara and Shuler) and all the FRAM guys held their composure and did a great job considering it was their first time at a race on a Top Fuel dragster. They kept the FRAM dragster going down the track.
"We had to pedal it first round (against Shawn Langdon), but it was still doing much better than basically all but a few cars out there. Todd and Phil did everything they were supposed to do. We lost to Doug Kalitta in the quarterfinal, but it was great to see him win the event, after almost a two-year dry spell. Not only did he win, his guys did a great job tuning the car."
As for the rain delays, "I think a lot of people don't realize that all the people at ESPN2 went through just as much as we did," said McClenathan, who is No. 5 in the point standings, tied with his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Tony Schumacher. "And I can't say enough about the NHRA Safety Safari. Those guys and girls worked their tails off to try to get the track dry umpteen times. I think a lot of those people, including (starter) Rick Stewart and the whole gang, often go without getting a 'Thank You,' without a 'Hey, great job.'
"For us it was a whole bunch of time sitting around, but those Safety Safari guys/gals were working the whole time this was going on, while we were back in the pits waiting to see what was going to happen.”
This weekend's weather in the Phoenix area is predicted to be dry. "I hope we get four good qualifying passes in at Firebird, and hopefully, for the FRAM dragster, four passes on Sunday. I'm excited to get there," said McClenathan.
"We need to qualify well on Friday, we need to try to go for it a little bit on Saturday to see if we can better our position and see where we can push the track and where we can't, and just get a good tune-up for Sunday."
McClenathan also has one runner-up finish at Firebird, in 1996, and was low qualifier two times (1993 and 1994).
CORY MCCLENATHAN QUICK FACTS:
* No. 5 in 2009 Top Fuel point standings, tied with Tony Schumacher and Steven Chrisman. Quarterfinal finish in Pomona 1
* No. 3 in 2008 Top Fuel point standings, including one win in three final rounds, as well as eight semifinal, six quarterfinal, seven first-round finishes and two No. 1 qualifiers
* Qualified No. 10 in '08 Phoenix, lost first round to Bob Vandergriff
* Has two Phoenix wins (1994, 1998), one runner-up (1996) and was low qualifier in 1993, 1994
* Won the '08 NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas2 for his 30th career Top Fuel victory in 53 final rounds
* First driver to break the 320-mph barrier with 322.17-mph run in Dallas in 1997
* Has recorded 431 career round wins in Top Fuel
* Qualified No. 1 32 times, with a career-high seven times in 1993
* Recorded 400th round win in Top Fuel in Richmond 2007
* Has finished No. 2 in the standings four times (1992, 1995, 1997 & 1998)
* Finished No. 10 in rookie season in 1991. Made first 4-second run
* Made NHRA history with first run in the 4.70s (4.799) at Reading in 1992
* Swept the three-race Western Swing in 1997 en route to four consecutive wins and career-high six victories in eight final rounds
* Won four of the first six races in 1998. Equaled career-best with six wins in eight finals
* Won the U.S. Nationals twice (1996, 1999)
* Missed four races in 1993 after crash in Rockingham and still finished sixth in the Top Fuel points
* Age 46 (January 30, 1963); born in Wichita, Kansas, now lives in Brownsburg, Ind.; has 17-year-old daughter Courtney
* Joined Don Schumacher Racing in 2008; 2009 is fourth season with sponsorship from FRAM
SCHEDULE:
FRIDAY, Feb. 20 - PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 1:30 and 4 p.m.
SATURDAY, Feb. 21 - PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at noon and 2:30 p.m.
SUNDAY, Feb. 22 - Pre-race ceremonies, 10 a.m. FINAL ELIMINATIONS begin at 11 a.m.
TELEVISION:
Sunday, Feb. 22, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise two hours of qualifying highlights at midnight (ET).
Sunday, Feb. 22, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise NHRA Race Day, a 30-minute pre-race show, at 12:30 p.m. (ET)
Sunday, Feb. 22, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise three hours of final eliminations at 7 p.m. (ET).
SATELLITE:
Friday, Feb. 20, 10-10:30 p.m. (ET) - AMC 15 / Transponder 9 K (Downlink Frequency: 11880 MHz, Vertical)
Saturday, Feb. 21, 8:30-9 p.m. (ET) - AMC 15 / Transponder 9 K (Downlink Frequency: 11880 MHz, Vertical)
Sunday, Feb. 22, 10:30-11 p.m. (ET) - AMC 15 / Transponder 9 K (Downlink Frequency: 11880 MHz, Vertical)
As the FRAM team prepared for this weekend's NHRA Arizona Nationals, the second national event of the year, Pomona memories were still on the mind of McClenathan, who has two national-event wins at Firebird International Raceway (1994 and 1998).
"The rain in Pomona just seemed to kind of confuse and stagger everybody," he said. "Todd and Phil (crew chiefs Okuhara and Shuler) and all the FRAM guys held their composure and did a great job considering it was their first time at a race on a Top Fuel dragster. They kept the FRAM dragster going down the track.
"We had to pedal it first round (against Shawn Langdon), but it was still doing much better than basically all but a few cars out there. Todd and Phil did everything they were supposed to do. We lost to Doug Kalitta in the quarterfinal, but it was great to see him win the event, after almost a two-year dry spell. Not only did he win, his guys did a great job tuning the car."
As for the rain delays, "I think a lot of people don't realize that all the people at ESPN2 went through just as much as we did," said McClenathan, who is No. 5 in the point standings, tied with his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Tony Schumacher. "And I can't say enough about the NHRA Safety Safari. Those guys and girls worked their tails off to try to get the track dry umpteen times. I think a lot of those people, including (starter) Rick Stewart and the whole gang, often go without getting a 'Thank You,' without a 'Hey, great job.'
"For us it was a whole bunch of time sitting around, but those Safety Safari guys/gals were working the whole time this was going on, while we were back in the pits waiting to see what was going to happen.”
This weekend's weather in the Phoenix area is predicted to be dry. "I hope we get four good qualifying passes in at Firebird, and hopefully, for the FRAM dragster, four passes on Sunday. I'm excited to get there," said McClenathan.
"We need to qualify well on Friday, we need to try to go for it a little bit on Saturday to see if we can better our position and see where we can push the track and where we can't, and just get a good tune-up for Sunday."
McClenathan also has one runner-up finish at Firebird, in 1996, and was low qualifier two times (1993 and 1994).
CORY MCCLENATHAN QUICK FACTS:
* No. 5 in 2009 Top Fuel point standings, tied with Tony Schumacher and Steven Chrisman. Quarterfinal finish in Pomona 1
* No. 3 in 2008 Top Fuel point standings, including one win in three final rounds, as well as eight semifinal, six quarterfinal, seven first-round finishes and two No. 1 qualifiers
* Qualified No. 10 in '08 Phoenix, lost first round to Bob Vandergriff
* Has two Phoenix wins (1994, 1998), one runner-up (1996) and was low qualifier in 1993, 1994
* Won the '08 NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas2 for his 30th career Top Fuel victory in 53 final rounds
* First driver to break the 320-mph barrier with 322.17-mph run in Dallas in 1997
* Has recorded 431 career round wins in Top Fuel
* Qualified No. 1 32 times, with a career-high seven times in 1993
* Recorded 400th round win in Top Fuel in Richmond 2007
* Has finished No. 2 in the standings four times (1992, 1995, 1997 & 1998)
* Finished No. 10 in rookie season in 1991. Made first 4-second run
* Made NHRA history with first run in the 4.70s (4.799) at Reading in 1992
* Swept the three-race Western Swing in 1997 en route to four consecutive wins and career-high six victories in eight final rounds
* Won four of the first six races in 1998. Equaled career-best with six wins in eight finals
* Won the U.S. Nationals twice (1996, 1999)
* Missed four races in 1993 after crash in Rockingham and still finished sixth in the Top Fuel points
* Age 46 (January 30, 1963); born in Wichita, Kansas, now lives in Brownsburg, Ind.; has 17-year-old daughter Courtney
* Joined Don Schumacher Racing in 2008; 2009 is fourth season with sponsorship from FRAM
SCHEDULE:
FRIDAY, Feb. 20 - PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 1:30 and 4 p.m.
SATURDAY, Feb. 21 - PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at noon and 2:30 p.m.
SUNDAY, Feb. 22 - Pre-race ceremonies, 10 a.m. FINAL ELIMINATIONS begin at 11 a.m.
TELEVISION:
Sunday, Feb. 22, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise two hours of qualifying highlights at midnight (ET).
Sunday, Feb. 22, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise NHRA Race Day, a 30-minute pre-race show, at 12:30 p.m. (ET)
Sunday, Feb. 22, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise three hours of final eliminations at 7 p.m. (ET).
SATELLITE:
Friday, Feb. 20, 10-10:30 p.m. (ET) - AMC 15 / Transponder 9 K (Downlink Frequency: 11880 MHz, Vertical)
Saturday, Feb. 21, 8:30-9 p.m. (ET) - AMC 15 / Transponder 9 K (Downlink Frequency: 11880 MHz, Vertical)
Sunday, Feb. 22, 10:30-11 p.m. (ET) - AMC 15 / Transponder 9 K (Downlink Frequency: 11880 MHz, Vertical)
