NHRA

Sonoma: Cory McClenathan preview

McClenathan wants to win for his sponsor FRAM and Autolite SONOMA, Calif. (July 26, 2005) -- The Western Swing, three consecutive races -- Denver, Seattle and Sonoma -- on three consecutive weekends, comes to the final leg as the ...

Edited: Jul 28, 2005, 3:13 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

McClenathan wants to win for his sponsor FRAM and Autolite

SONOMA, Calif. (July 26, 2005) -- The Western Swing, three consecutive races -- Denver, Seattle and Sonoma -- on three consecutive weekends, comes to the final leg as the NHRA FRAM Autolite Nationals unfolds Friday through Sunday at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma.

Cory McClenathan, driver of the Carrier Boyz Racing FRAM AirHog Top Fuel dragster, is excited about this weekend's event.

"To go into the final event on the Western Swing with the sponsor of the event -- FRAM and Autolite -- also being primary marketing partners on our car is awesome, exciting and offers so much potential for showcasing the products of the Honeywell Consumer Group," said McClenathan. "We need to do good for our sponsors. We need to go rounds for FRAM AirHog, Autolite XP spark plugs, Prestone and Bendix.

"I cannot think of a better thing than to put this Carrier Boyz Racing FRAM AirHog dragster in the winner's circle this weekend. It would be our first win of the year and our first since FRAM and Honeywell came on board at the beginning of this season. That would be huge and there would be a whole lot of people to help us celebrate and share the pictures in the winner's circle. That would be a big deal for us as a race team."

The Carrier Boyz Racing team quietly debuted a new car at Denver and already is excited with the initial results. After only two races with the car, crew chief Todd Smith feels that with enough trips down the quarter-mile the car should return the team to the performance level that will enable them to compete with the "Top Dogs" of the Top Fuel class.

Cory feels that the FRAM Autolite Nationals might be a breakthrough event for the new car. "We feel like we have a competitive car again since we brought out our new Brad Hadman-built car at Denver. Todd Smith and I, along with the crew, are real comfortable with it. When we make changes and adjust to the track and weather conditions, those changes make a difference now. Maybe we used the old car too long."

McClenathan has been to the final round twice at Sonoma, winning one. He visited the winner's circle here in 1997 when defeated Scott Kalitta and was runner up to Eddie Hill in 1993. Entering this event, McClenathan is currently No. 9 in the NHRA POWERade Top Fuel point standings.

A special note regarding NHRA2Day, the magazine-style television show that gives you the latest news about the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. The show, usually seen on Sunday morning, moves to prime time on ESPN2 HD on Sunday evening (July 31) at 8:30 p.m. (ET), immediately preceding the three-hour elimination show. (For full television times and information, please see below.)

-cbr-

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Sonoma: Kalitta Motorsports preview

Next article Sonoma: Dave Connolly preview

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Toyota clinches 2026 NASCAR Cup manufacturer championship early after dominant season

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

34 min

Toyota clinches 2026 NASCAR Cup manufacturer championship early after dominant season

Tyler Reddick really needed NASCAR Phoenix win for several reasons

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

37 min

Tyler Reddick really needed NASCAR Phoenix win for several reasons

Bubba Wallace laments mistake after heartbreaking Phoenix loss

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

1 h

Bubba Wallace laments mistake after heartbreaking Phoenix loss

NASCAR is getting the championship finish it has pursued since 1992

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

1 h

NASCAR is getting the championship finish it has pursued since 1992

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts