NHRA

Richmond: Cory McClenathan preview

FOUR-TIME RICHMOND CHAMP MCCLENATHAN LOOKS TO RAISE HIS PERCENTAGE DINWIDDIE, Va. (Oct. 7, 2009) - As the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series heads to Virginia Motorsports Park for this weekend's NHRA Virginia Nationals, four-time Top Fuel ...

Edited: Oct 8, 2009, 3:13 AM

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FOUR-TIME RICHMOND CHAMP MCCLENATHAN LOOKS TO RAISE HIS PERCENTAGE

DINWIDDIE, Va. (Oct. 7, 2009) - As the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series heads to Virginia Motorsports Park for this weekend's NHRA Virginia Nationals, four-time Top Fuel champ at this track Cory McClenathan looks to raise his Virginia win percentage at the fourth of six events of the Countdown to 1 playoffs.

With nine NHRA events having been run at VMP - six from 1995 through 2000, and three since 2006 - the driver of the FRAM Tough Guard Top Fuel dragster has won 44 percent of the Top Fuel events at this facility, as the winningest driver. And with the Top Fuel championship at stake as the season winds down to the final three races, "Cory Mac" has a comfortable feeling.

"It's pretty cool to have won in Virginia four times," said McClenathan, who is third in the rankings, 93 markers out of first place, and had led the points after winning in Concord, N.C. "Our win-rate percentage is pretty good in Richmond.

"I feel very comfortable going into Virginia, but, unfortunately for us, we're having some parts breakage on the car," he said, referring to his second-round loss last Monday in Memphis because of that problem. "We find one thing, fix it, and it finds another place to break.

"The timing couldn't be any worse. As we entered the Countdown we put ourselves in a position to do well, won one event, led the points briefly, and we were moving ahead. Now, we're a little behind. So, we just need to go out and keep on doing our thing. Eventually it will turn around; hopefully it will be this weekend at a track where conditions should be very good.

"Larry Dixon, in second, is 39 points in front of us going into this race, and our teammate Tony Schumacher is 93 ahead. We're counting points, obviously.

"Richmond has been great to me in the past, and I always go in there with confidence. That's a nice feeling. I'm looking forward to seeing what this weekend brings."

McClenathan's four wins in Virginia came in 1995, 1998, 1999 and 2006. He was runner-up in 1997.

-credit: dsr

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