Cory McClenathan earned three qualifying bonus points and No. 4 in qualifying for the NHRA
Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park.
Driving the FRAM Tough Guard Top Fuel dragster under dry and cool conditions, McClenathan's
quickest pass of 3.862 seconds at 313.80 mph came in Friday's evening session, which was good for
No. 4 at the time. He earned one qualifying bonus point in the opening round, posting the third
quickest pass of that session of 3.905/313.00.
He claimed two more bonus points, for a total of three during qualifying, in today's third attempt,
which produced a 3.875/310.98. In the final session, he posted another solid 3.897/313.15.
"We're trying so many things right now," said McClenathan, who is third in the Countdown to 1
playoffs standings. "We're trying to get ahead of the curve, and I think we're looking at everyone
gaining those extra points. We want some of those points. So we're actually having to push our car
a little more.
"That's good for us, because we know what the race track will handle, but at the same time we
gained three points here in qualifying, where Larry Dixon (second in points) gained 12. That's
tough to take. But, our car goes A to B every single time, and that's what it really takes to win
races, so I'll take that any day.
"As far as the race track goes, these are better conditions than we've seen in years. The weather
has been great. Tomorrow is going to be cooler and it will be a whole new ball game.
"Look out, because we're going to see some lower ETs, bigger mile-an-hour, all the way around, so
it will be completely different. When it cools off like it does, and it's supposed to tomorrow, if
that really happens, it will make it interesting, and I'm excited for it."
McClenathan faces TJ Zizzo in the opening round of Sunday's eliminations.
