Indy ORP: Cory McClenathan final report

Quarterfinal Finish for McClenathan at U.S. Nationals

Cory McClenathan added another round  win for his Mac Motorsports FRAM Top
Fuel team Monday in the Mac Tools U.S.  Nationals, but he couldn't get past
eventual race winner Tony Schumacher in the  quarterfinals on a hot O'Reilly
Raceway Park racing  surface.

McClenathan left the starting line ahead of Morgan Lucas -- .069 seconds to .075 -- and reached the finish line five-thousandths of a second ahead, 4.621 seconds at 321.58 mph to 4.620 at 326.71.

The winning margin won the Motel 6 "Who Got the Light Award" for McClenathan and is worth a $1000 bonus.

"We haven't lost in the first round with our new car," said McClenathan. " We were very happy to qualify in the middle of the field (ninth) and we continue to make progress."

Schumacher, who went on to win  his sixth U.S. Nationals title, ran 4.544 at
327.98 to a slowing 5.154 at 202.94  for McClenathan.  "The motor didn't
sound good and I shut it off early,"  added McClenathan.

-credit: sgr