Under cooler, overcast conditions today at Brainerd International Raceway, Cory McClenathan
qualified the FRAM Tough Guard Top Fuel dragster in No. 4, relinquishing the top spot he earned in
Friday night's qualifying session to Morgan Lucas.
Only three rounds of qualifying were held for this event, as rain washed out the final run today.
McClenathan's last attempt to hold on to No. 1 resulted in a 3.899-second pass at 306.74 mph, which
was quicker than his Friday-night run of 3.910/305.36, but not enough to dethrone Lucas, who ran a
3.868/307.16.
"We left some on the table," said McClenathan, who clinched a spot in the Countdown to 1 playoffs
on Friday. "We had a little issue with it backfiring through the manifold and it was really nothing
big. We came back and everything looked fine, it didn't hurt any pieces or parts, and it was just a
bummer that we didn't get that fourth qualifying session. I think we really had something to go up
there with. (Crew chiefs) Todd (Okuhara) and Phil (Shuler) and the FRAM guys feel that we probably
could have stepped up."
McClenathan faces Tim Cullinan in first round of Sunday's eliminations. McClenathan's Don
Schumacher Racing teammate, who was second to him in Friday's qualifying run, fell to third behind
Lucas and Larry Dixon.
