Seattle: Cory McClenathan final report

MCCLENATHAN EXITS EARLY IN SEATTLE KENT, Wash. (July 19, 2009) - Cory McClenathan made a surprise early exit today at the NHRA Northwest Nationals by bowing out to Troy Buff in the opening round of Sunday's Top Fuel eliminations. After ...

MCCLENATHAN EXITS EARLY IN SEATTLE

KENT, Wash. (July 19, 2009) - Cory McClenathan made a surprise early exit today at the NHRA Northwest Nationals by bowing out to Troy Buff in the opening round of Sunday's Top Fuel eliminations.

After qualifying the FRAM Tough Guard Top Fuel dragster in the No. 4 spot, McClenathan's match-up against No. 13 qualifier Buff resulted in an upset, as Buff outran McClenathan's excellent 3.929-second pass at 304.46 mph with a quicker 3.921/298.54. Margin of victory: seven feet.

"It's one of those things," said McClenathan, who dropped to sixth in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Top Fuel point standings. "We knew they would get down the track, but we didn't think that they would run better than we did.

"We have no racing luck whatsoever. The FRAM Tough Guard car goes from A to B all the time and it runs good and qualifies well. We just don't have anything going on our side.

"Maybe it's all supposed to happen next week at the FRAM-Autolite Nationals in Sonoma, Calif.

"So, we'll just pack it up and go on. The FRAM guys are doing a great job. I have to smile because there's no reason to be down. We have a good race car and good race cars end up in the winner's circle. We just have to find out which race it's going to be."

Next up is the FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., July 24-26.