Deby
Nitro Member
[coverattach=1]INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 5, 2009) - Cory McClenathan drove the all-new FRAM Tough Guard Top Fuel Dragster built in the Don Schumacher Racing shops in nearby Brownsburg, Ind., into the No. 2 spot after three of five qualifying sessions for the 55th annual U.S. Nationals at Raceway Park at Indianapolis.
He posted his quickest pass in the third round of 3.851 seconds at 311.63 mph, which was the quickest of that round, and maintained the No. 2 position he earned in his first pass on Friday of 3.863/305.36 and held through today's earlier second run of 3.908/308.00. Two more rounds of qualifying on Sunday will determine the 16-car field for Monday's eliminations.
"The new car is working great," said McClenathan. "Obviously, the reason we built it was to try to run better and quicker to 1000 feet. That’s the name of the game now. You have to make up numbers either on the starting line or in the middle of the track and we’re doing that.
"This is the first Top Fuel chassis that DSR has ever built so everybody was a little bit worried. That’s why we took a full day of testing out here last week and made six attempts. We do feel it is the way to go and now we're building one for (teammate) Tony Schumacher.
"If we’re going to gain anything in the Countdown, this is the thing to do. We’re excited about it!
“That’s fantastic," he said of being quickest of the third round. "I think that’s what everybody is pretty much going for right now. The FRAM guys said it’s either going to smoke the tires or it’s going to go down the track and go quick. Obviously, they have a handle on it, that’s the biggest thing.
"if we could have waited an hour for it to be cooler, we would have been able to run a little quicker than that, but right now, for those conditions, I think it’s pretty darn good.”
He posted his quickest pass in the third round of 3.851 seconds at 311.63 mph, which was the quickest of that round, and maintained the No. 2 position he earned in his first pass on Friday of 3.863/305.36 and held through today's earlier second run of 3.908/308.00. Two more rounds of qualifying on Sunday will determine the 16-car field for Monday's eliminations.
"The new car is working great," said McClenathan. "Obviously, the reason we built it was to try to run better and quicker to 1000 feet. That’s the name of the game now. You have to make up numbers either on the starting line or in the middle of the track and we’re doing that.
"This is the first Top Fuel chassis that DSR has ever built so everybody was a little bit worried. That’s why we took a full day of testing out here last week and made six attempts. We do feel it is the way to go and now we're building one for (teammate) Tony Schumacher.
"If we’re going to gain anything in the Countdown, this is the thing to do. We’re excited about it!
“That’s fantastic," he said of being quickest of the third round. "I think that’s what everybody is pretty much going for right now. The FRAM guys said it’s either going to smoke the tires or it’s going to go down the track and go quick. Obviously, they have a handle on it, that’s the biggest thing.
"if we could have waited an hour for it to be cooler, we would have been able to run a little quicker than that, but right now, for those conditions, I think it’s pretty darn good.”
