NHRA
Dallas: Cory McClenathan preview
Cory Mac Aims for Shootout Points and Win this time at Dallas ENNIS, Texas (September 20, 2004) -- As much as things change, things stay the same. Such is the case with the events at last weekend's NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals at Reading, Penn., and ...
Published: Sep 22, 2004, 11:09 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Cory Mac Aims for Shootout Points and Win this time at Dallas
ENNIS, Texas (September 20, 2004) -- As much as things change, things stay the same. Such is the case with the events at last weekend's NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals at Reading, Penn., and this weekend's NHRA O'Reilly Fall Nationals at Dallas.
Because rains postponed the Lucas Oil Nationals until October 8-10, the O'Reilly Fall Nationals becomes the first of three races remaining for Cory McClenathan, driver of the Carrier Boyz Berryman Products Top Fuel Dragster, to accumulate enough points to be guaranteed a spot in the lucrative Budweiser Shootout.
In the newly established qualifying procedure for the 2004 Budweiser Shootout, only the seven Top Fuel drivers in positions 1-7 will be guaranteed a spot in the Shootout. The eighth position spot, a wild card position, will be awarded to one of the eight drivers who qualify in positions 8-15 through a special lottery drawing.
"As I indicated prior to Reading, our team has not been consistent in our qualifying efforts this year and we find ourselves with the possibility of having to get into the Budweiser Shootout through the lottery drawing," said McClenathan.
Currently, McClenathan is in the No. 8 spot with 2330 points, 65 points behind Doug Herbert in seventh.
"The only thing that postponing the race at Maple Grove did for us was delay things a week. We still find ourselves in a position where we have to pick up enough points on Doug Herbert in the next three races so that we are guaranteed a spot in the Budweiser Shootout and don't have to get involved in the lottery deal.
"Somehow I know Herbert sure isn't going to give up easy. As I said last week, I've never had any luck with lotteries, so we've got to race our way in beginning at Dallas," added McClenathan, who has qualified in the top half of the Top Fuel field 11 of the 12 times he has raced in the fall event at Texas Motorplex.
The 2004 Budweiser Shootout will be contested at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, October 30, during the NHRA ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals.
Entering this weekend's O'Reilly Fall Nationals, in the NHRA POWERade Top Fuel point standings, McClenathan has 921 points, good for seventh position. He is 159 points behind Dixon in sixth and 172 behind Grubnic in fifth.
To realize his goal of finishing in the top five in POWERade points, McClenathan and the Carrier Boyz Racing team must make an immediate move on those in front of him in the point standings.
"Our first goal is to pick up shootout points on Herbert but then we need to pick up POWERade points on Larry Dixon and David Grubnic," continued Cory Mac, who has won this event three times in five final rounds. "They are right ahead of us in points and another win here would go a long way in narrowing the gap.
"Our sponsor, Berryman Products, is headquartered in Arlington, Texas and their management and employees are always very support when we are in the Dallas area. Our whole team is looking forward to seeing them at the race."
Cory Mac begins his pursuit of the NHRA O'Reilly Fall Nationals Top Fuel title when professional nitro qualifying starts on Friday with two sessions scheduled for 4:30 and 7 p.m. and ending with two sessions on Saturday at 12:30 and 3 p.m. Final eliminations for all classes get underway on Sunday at 11 a.m. These times are subject to change and reflect Central Daylight Time (CDT).
Qualifying highlights can be seen on ESPN2 on Saturday (September 25) from 4-6 p.m. ESPN2 will also air same-day television coverage of eliminations on Sunday Night (September 26)/Monday morning from 11 p.m. until 1 a.m. (The elimination show will be repeated on ESPN2 from 3-5 p.m. on Friday, October 1.) Television times are Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and subject to change at anytime. Check local listings.
Berryman Products, who has been associated with McClenathan and NHRA drag racing for the past several years, are once again racing with Cory Mac. Berryman Products, along with an all-star list of marketing partners that includes American Racing, Champion Spark Plugs, Don Steves Chevrolet (La Habra, Calif.), Fabtech Motorsports, FRAM, Mac Tools, Negley Electric, Prestone and PurePower Oil, joins Carrier Boyz Racing throughout the 2004 season.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Special Russell Memorial award for Dallas event
Next article Pro Mod: Dallas preview
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Doug Herbert
Massey, Edwards and Worsham claim top qualifying positions at Thunder Valley Nationals
NHRA
NHRA
Massey, Edwards and Worsham claim top qualifying positions at Thunder Valley Nationals
Mike Wallace leads at Charlotte, finishes 15th
NASCAR O'Reilly
NASCAR O'Reilly
Mike Wallace leads at Charlotte, finishes 15th
Final pairings are set for Charlotte Four-Wide Nationals
NHRA
NHRA
Final pairings are set for Charlotte Four-Wide Nationals
Latest news
Official race results: 2026 NASCAR Cup Phoenix II
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
5 min
Official race results: 2026 NASCAR Cup Phoenix II
Tyler Reddick wins Phoenix NASCAR Cup thriller as Kyle Larson crashes
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
10 min
Tyler Reddick wins Phoenix NASCAR Cup thriller as Kyle Larson crashes
WEC Barcelona: Toyota scores dominant 1-2 to seal manufacturers’ title
WEC
WEC WEC
Barcelona
6 h
WEC Barcelona: Toyota scores dominant 1-2 to seal manufacturers’ title
Hailie Deegan eying NASCAR Truck return but future plans remain uncertain
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Phoenix
6 h
Hailie Deegan eying NASCAR Truck return but future plans remain uncertain
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe