Las Vegas: Cory McClenathan final summary

McClenathan Upsets Whit Bazemore in Opening Round

LAS VEGAS, April 15, 2007 -- Cory McClenathan drove into the quarterfinals of the SummitRacing.com Nationals Sunday and left The Strip at Las Vegas Motor pleased with the improved performance of the Carrier Boyz Racing FRAM Top Fuel dragster.

"Mark and Andy (Carrier) and I liked the way the car ran today," McClenathan said. "We are going to test Monday and work on our clutch setup and get ready to go to Atlanta."

McClenathan went into eliminations from 13th place and took just 4.639 seconds (at 316.60 mph) to dispatch No. 4 qualifier Whit Bazemore, who was slowed by traction trouble and was timed in 6.270 seconds.

McClenathan gave eventual winner Brandon Bernstein a close race until his car's rear end broke. "It was a freak deal," McClenathan said. "We don't know why it broke but we are going to take a close look at it. The rear end had only 30 runs on it.

"We want to thank John Stewart for helping us in the clutch area this weekend. He provided an extra set of eyes and some good suggestions on what to test Monday."

McClenathan resumes NHRA POWERade Series competition at Atlanta, April 27-29.

-credit: cbr