Denver: Cory McClenathan Saturday notes

MCCLENATHAN RELINQUISHES TOP SPOT IN DENVER

MORRISON, Colo. (July 11, 2009) - Cory McClenathan relinquished the top spot he earned in Friday night's late qualifying session during the final qualifying round today at the Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway and settled for second place.

The 3.882-second elapsed time at 317.05 mph he set and held through the third qualifying round was eclipsed by Antron Brown's 3.862/315.05. "Cory Mac" posted a 4.003/357.14 in the third session and another solid 3.889/314.24 in his final attempt, giving him and the FRAM Tough Guard team the knowledge and confidence that they had a good car for the race.

"Sometimes you have more pressure to win from the pole," said McClenathan. "I'm actually very happy with the FRAM Tough Guard car. I think the guys have done very well, we've run very well here on the hill, and we've run very consistently.

"A couple of 4 flats and a couple of 3.88s; I think that's a good combination. And everybody is going to be in the same predicament tomorrow because we're racing at 12 noon. We haven't done that all weekend." Each of the four qualifying rounds were held in early evening or at night.

"It's going to be warmer," added McClenathan, "but I think (crew chiefs) Phil (Shuler) and Todd (Okuhara) know exactly how to back it up. But I do think you'll see some surprises out there tomorrow, so it will be very interesting. It will become a little bit more of a driver's game."

McClenathan faces Terry Haddock in the opening round of Sunday's eliminations.

-credit: dsr