What appeared to be a normal run wasn’t for Cory McClenathan and the FRAM Top Fuel team Friday during qualifying for Sunday’s Auto Club Finals.
His elapsed time of 4.608 seconds at 319.14 mph wasn’t that bad either. It was eighth-quickest of the session, but it could’ve been better. “The run seemed okay to me, ” said McClenathan. “It ran fairly well most of the way down the track. At the end of the track I saw there was obviously something wrong, parts breakage and all that. “
Indeed, “it was an odd deal, ” said assistant crew chief Tony Shortall. “Basically, a piston sleeve cracked and (in turn, the result) torched the block, sent a flame to the spark plug tube and the oil in the cylinder head came out through the spark plug hole.
“It is the first time I’ve heard of that happening. “
The good news is McClenathan’s 4.566-second run from Thursday has him eighth going into Saturday’s final two qualifying sessions of the season.
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