Seattle: Cory McClenathan final report

MCCLENATHAN REACHES QUARTERFINALS IN SEATTLE KENT, Wash. (July 20, 2008) -- Cory McClenathan drove the FRAM Top Fuel dragster to a quarterfinal finish at the 21st annual NHRA Nationals at Pacific Raceways. McClenathan was defeated in the second ...

MCCLENATHAN REACHES QUARTERFINALS IN SEATTLE

KENT, Wash. (July 20, 2008) -- Cory McClenathan drove the FRAM Top Fuel dragster to a quarterfinal finish at the 21st annual NHRA Nationals at Pacific Raceways. McClenathan was defeated in the second round by Brandon Bernstein and slipped one spot to fifth in the tight NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Top Fuel point standings.

McClenathan began the day by defeating J.R. Todd in the opening round with an elapsed time of 3.966 seconds at 276.52 mph to Todd's 4.148/254.52. His second-round race against Brandon Bernstein was a pedal-fest with both cars smoking the tires. McClenathan lost traction first and was on and off the throttle several times before shutting off, recording a 4.910/197.65 to Bernstein's winning 4.336/233.52.

"By not qualifying where we would have liked to in the better half of the field you have to take on someone as tough as J.R. Todd," said McClenathan, who qualified No. 10. "You just never know what's going to happen. We didn't run a great elapsed time in the first round but we had some engine problems down there and luckily for us J.R. smoked the tires. It's one of those deals where you feel like you need to get a little bit of luck in drag racing. It definitely helps. We were still able to run a 3.96 and it was on its way to running in the mid- to low 3.80s.

"Brandon Bernstein has been running well all weekend long and we knew we needed to run a tad better and I needed to do my job on the starting line. The FRAM dragster lost traction and Brandon's car made it out there a little farther before he lost traction as well, and that definitely helped him. I pedaled it a few times and it didn't catch and I realized I wasn't going to cross the finish line first so I knew it was time to shut it off and save the parts and not punish it.

"We're still going rounds and we're having the right people go out early, but at the same time we're slipping a little in the points. Everybody is really close in the points and, if we're saving up to win, I guess next weekend's the perfect time to do it considering FRAM sponsors the race in Sonoma."