[coverattach=1]BROWNSBURG, Ind. (June 2, 2010) - Cory McClenathan has been hot this season driving the FRAM Top Fuel dragster in the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. He's won two national events in four final rounds and is second in the point standings. He's triumphed 33 times in his career in 61 final rounds and has earned pole position 36 times. Talk about a contender.
What he hasn't done is win at Route 66 Raceway. So, with a consistently-fast hot rod under him, tuned by Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler, "Cory Mac" and the FRAM team expect to modify that statistic in this weekend's 13th annual Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Joliet, Ill.
He and the FRAM team will also embark on a four-in-a-row series of NHRA national events before they'll have a weekend off. After that, it's the three back-to-back races known as the Western Swing.
"This four-in-a-row is going to be tough on some people," said McClenathan, who swept the Western Swing in 1997 and then won the next event for four consecutive victories that year. "I'm actually looking forward to it, because we seem to do well in two-in-a-row, three-in-a-row, and even four-in-a-row.
"The Chicago area is home for our team owner Don Schumacher, and we want to do well for him. After Joliet, it's Englishtown, N.J., and I've done well there (three runner-ups) but have never won there, either. Then we go to Bristol, and I've had my ups and downs there, but I've also never won an NHRA national event there. Then to round it off, we go to Norwalk, Ohio, another place I've never won at. It would be great to check all of these off our list in one sweep."
McClenathan is just 97 points out of first place after nine of 23 events. "Right now it's all about going rounds," he said, "and if we can keep earning points, getting a round win here, a round win there, on (No. 1 in points) Larry Dixon, we can make it a little bit of a closer fight. Let's face it, the fans are looking toward the Countdown to 1 playoffs (in the final six events of the year for the top 10), like we are, but right now it's still exciting to keep the points close and not have somebody run away with it. That's really kind of what our goal is right now.
"And we have to keep toe-to-toe with our Don Schumacher Racing teammates Tony Schumacher (third in points in the U.S. Army Top Fuel car) and Antron Brown (fifth place). Antron and the Matco Tools team have shown that they have a good race car. So, it's going to be interesting. I just would like to keep it a really close race until we get to the Countdown and then everybody better be raring to go and on the same page. And I think that's what Todd and Phil are trying to do with the FRAM Top Fuel dragster."
CORY MCCLENATHAN QUICK FACTS:
* No. 2 in 2010 point standings, after two semifinal finishes and two victories (in four final rounds) in the first nine races; 97 points out of lead (Larry Dixon)
* Has never won or reached a final round at Route 66 Raceway
* No. 1 qualifier in Joliet in 2000 and in the fall of 2004
* Qualified No. 9 in 2009 Joliet; lost first round to Rod Fuller
* No. 4 in 2009 year-end standings with a victory in Concord, N.C., the opening round of the playoffs
* Had one win in four final rounds in 2009, plus five semifinal and six quarterfinal finishes
* Has three No. 1 qualifiers so far in 2010
* Qualified No. 1 once in 2009 (Bristol);
* No. 5 in 2009 "regular season" Top Fuel point standings
* 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
* Has 33 career Top Fuel victories in 61 final rounds
* Career-best elapsed time to 1000 feet: 3.784 seconds (Richmond '09)
* Career-best speed to 1000 feet: 322.50 mph (Gainesville 2010)
* First driver to break the 320-mph barrier with 322.17-mph run in Dallas in 1997
* Has recorded 486 career round wins in Top Fuel
* Qualified No. 1 36 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 and 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 47 (January 30, 1963); born in Wichita, Kansas, now lives in Brownsburg, Ind.; daughter Courtney (10/25/90); engaged to Debi
* Joined Don Schumacher Racing in 2008; 2010 is fifth season with sponsorship from FRAM
WEEKEND SCHEDULE:
Full Throttle Series qualifying sessions are scheduled for noon and 2:45 p.m. on Friday, June 4, and will continue at 1 p.m. and 3p.m. on Saturday, June 5. Final professional eliminations begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday, June 6.
TELEVISION:
ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise two hours of qualifying coverage at 11 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, June 5.
On Sunday, June 6, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will feature NHRA Race Day, a 30-minute pre-race show, at 10 a.m. (ET), and three of eliminations coverage at 4 p.m. (ET).
SATELLITE NEWS FEED:
Friday, June 4, 8:30-9 p.m. (ET) – AMC 9 / Transponder 5 K
Saturday, June 5, 7:30-8 p.m. (ET) – AMC 9 / Transponder 5 K
Sunday, June 6, 7:30-8 p.m. (ET) – AMC 9 / Transponder 5 K
Downlink Frequency: AMC 9 / Transponder 5K (11800 MHz, Horizontal)
This is an ANALOG feed
ON THE WEB:
Get instant results, access to photos, video and audio clips and the latest news updates from every NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event on the Internet at NHRA.com.
What he hasn't done is win at Route 66 Raceway. So, with a consistently-fast hot rod under him, tuned by Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler, "Cory Mac" and the FRAM team expect to modify that statistic in this weekend's 13th annual Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Joliet, Ill.
He and the FRAM team will also embark on a four-in-a-row series of NHRA national events before they'll have a weekend off. After that, it's the three back-to-back races known as the Western Swing.
"This four-in-a-row is going to be tough on some people," said McClenathan, who swept the Western Swing in 1997 and then won the next event for four consecutive victories that year. "I'm actually looking forward to it, because we seem to do well in two-in-a-row, three-in-a-row, and even four-in-a-row.
"The Chicago area is home for our team owner Don Schumacher, and we want to do well for him. After Joliet, it's Englishtown, N.J., and I've done well there (three runner-ups) but have never won there, either. Then we go to Bristol, and I've had my ups and downs there, but I've also never won an NHRA national event there. Then to round it off, we go to Norwalk, Ohio, another place I've never won at. It would be great to check all of these off our list in one sweep."
McClenathan is just 97 points out of first place after nine of 23 events. "Right now it's all about going rounds," he said, "and if we can keep earning points, getting a round win here, a round win there, on (No. 1 in points) Larry Dixon, we can make it a little bit of a closer fight. Let's face it, the fans are looking toward the Countdown to 1 playoffs (in the final six events of the year for the top 10), like we are, but right now it's still exciting to keep the points close and not have somebody run away with it. That's really kind of what our goal is right now.
"And we have to keep toe-to-toe with our Don Schumacher Racing teammates Tony Schumacher (third in points in the U.S. Army Top Fuel car) and Antron Brown (fifth place). Antron and the Matco Tools team have shown that they have a good race car. So, it's going to be interesting. I just would like to keep it a really close race until we get to the Countdown and then everybody better be raring to go and on the same page. And I think that's what Todd and Phil are trying to do with the FRAM Top Fuel dragster."
CORY MCCLENATHAN QUICK FACTS:
* No. 2 in 2010 point standings, after two semifinal finishes and two victories (in four final rounds) in the first nine races; 97 points out of lead (Larry Dixon)
* Has never won or reached a final round at Route 66 Raceway
* No. 1 qualifier in Joliet in 2000 and in the fall of 2004
* Qualified No. 9 in 2009 Joliet; lost first round to Rod Fuller
* No. 4 in 2009 year-end standings with a victory in Concord, N.C., the opening round of the playoffs
* Had one win in four final rounds in 2009, plus five semifinal and six quarterfinal finishes
* Has three No. 1 qualifiers so far in 2010
* Qualified No. 1 once in 2009 (Bristol);
* No. 5 in 2009 "regular season" Top Fuel point standings
* 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
* Has 33 career Top Fuel victories in 61 final rounds
* Career-best elapsed time to 1000 feet: 3.784 seconds (Richmond '09)
* Career-best speed to 1000 feet: 322.50 mph (Gainesville 2010)
* First driver to break the 320-mph barrier with 322.17-mph run in Dallas in 1997
* Has recorded 486 career round wins in Top Fuel
* Qualified No. 1 36 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 and 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 47 (January 30, 1963); born in Wichita, Kansas, now lives in Brownsburg, Ind.; daughter Courtney (10/25/90); engaged to Debi
* Joined Don Schumacher Racing in 2008; 2010 is fifth season with sponsorship from FRAM
WEEKEND SCHEDULE:
Full Throttle Series qualifying sessions are scheduled for noon and 2:45 p.m. on Friday, June 4, and will continue at 1 p.m. and 3p.m. on Saturday, June 5. Final professional eliminations begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday, June 6.
TELEVISION:
ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise two hours of qualifying coverage at 11 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, June 5.
On Sunday, June 6, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will feature NHRA Race Day, a 30-minute pre-race show, at 10 a.m. (ET), and three of eliminations coverage at 4 p.m. (ET).
SATELLITE NEWS FEED:
Friday, June 4, 8:30-9 p.m. (ET) – AMC 9 / Transponder 5 K
Saturday, June 5, 7:30-8 p.m. (ET) – AMC 9 / Transponder 5 K
Sunday, June 6, 7:30-8 p.m. (ET) – AMC 9 / Transponder 5 K
Downlink Frequency: AMC 9 / Transponder 5K (11800 MHz, Horizontal)
This is an ANALOG feed
ON THE WEB:
Get instant results, access to photos, video and audio clips and the latest news updates from every NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event on the Internet at NHRA.com.
