Commerce: Cory McClenathan final summary

McClenathan Advances to Quarterfinals at Southern Nationals

Cory McClenathan picked up another round win with his considerable driving ability and it concluded in spectacular fashion Sunday in the Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway.

A .064-second reaction time put  McClenathan and the Carrier Boyz Racing FRAM
Top Fuel dragster in front to stay  against Whit Bazemore in first round.
McClenathan's 4.569-second time  was eight-thousandths of a second better than
Bazemore's 4.527 at the finish  line.

Before Cory Mac could enjoy it, however, the engine exploded in a  huge
fireball and he masterfully kept in under control and guided it to a  sliding stop.

This was his second consecutive first-round win over Bazemore. The first came two weeks ago at Las Vegas.

The crew had a busy  hour, changing the motor and repairing the damage done
by the fire,  readying it for his quarterfinal meeting with Doug Foley.  This
time the  orange and black FRAM dragster experienced traction problems almost
immediately,  forcing the driver to shut it off.  Foley took the win with a
4.699 at  302.21 mph to McClenathan's 13.289 at 76.64 mph.

"It was good to get that  first-round win," McClenathan said.  "We needed
that. I really don't know  what happened in the next round but the car didn't
move very far before the  tires started spinning."

He resumes action at St. Louis next Friday through Sunday.

-credit: cbr