Bristol: Cory McClenathan final report

Cory Mac Gets Quarterfinal Finish at Bristol

Cory  McClenathan upended Doug Herbert in the opening round of Sunday's O'
Reilly  Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway, driving the special
JEGS.com Top  Fuel dragster to a quarterfinal finish.

McClenathan, in bright  yellow colors instead of the familiar FRAM orange and
black, left the line first  against Herbert and never looked back on a hot,
humid day on a tricky racing  surface -- posting an elapsed time of 4.622
seconds at 316.97 to Herbert's 4.766  at 262.39.

"It felt good to get that first-round win for JEGS and  the FRAM people who
allowed us to run the different colors," said McClenathan,  who went to the
final round the last time he drove that car (Columbus, Ohio,  June 2006).

In the quarterfinals, however, track conditions got the best of McClenathan and rival Brandon Bernstein. Both drivers had to pedal the throttle but Bernstein got the edge because his dragster had more momentum before the tires began spinning. Bernstein lit the win light with a 6.780 at 204.79 to Cory Mac' s 7.785 at 137.96.

"We just smoked the tires  and the car didn't go anywhere," McClenathan
said.  "Brandon had a lot more  momentum than I did getting down the track.  I
waited until the car settled  down but when I pedaled it, it took all the teeth
off the blower belt and the  engine stopped."

McClenathan remained in 10th in POWERade Series points with 539.

-credit: sgr