Cory McClenathan, driving the Valvoline Engine Guarantee/FRAM Tough Guard Top Fuel dragster this
weekend, relinquished his points lead today after finishing the NHRA Fall Nationals at Texas
Motorplex in the quarterfinal round.
In ambient temperatures close to the 90-degree mark and rising, the No. 5 qualifier dismissed No.
12 Doug Kalitta in the opening stanza, despite posting a tire-smoking 4.127-second elapsed time at
265.95 mph out of the more favorable left lane, which resulted in his losing lane choice for the
second round.
Facing Shawn Langdon in that match-up, McClenathan launched with a nearly identical reaction time
to Langdon's. Neither pass was stellar, but Langdon made it first across the finish strip with a
4.236/237.96, while McClenathan struck the tires and slowed to a 4.403/190.14.
"You now what, we can go down either lane," said McClenathan, who slipped to third in the Countdown
to 1 playoffs standings. "It wasn't about lane choice for us. We had a part in the car that failed
and caused us to lose, and that's plain and simple. That happens whether you have the best of parts
or not. That's just the way it is.
"The timing of it was bad. To go from first to third like that was just bad timing. So we're just
going to have to go to the next event and race this FRAM Tough Guard dragster again. We're not out
of it by any means."
Next up is the 22nd annual NHRA Mid-South Nationals in Memphis, Tenn., Oct. 2-4, 2009.
