BROWNSBURG, Ind. – FRAM Top Fuel dragster driver Cory McClenathan is looking to score his third career victory at the biggest and most prestigious NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event of the season, the 54th annual U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. McClenathan has reached three final rounds at Indy, racking up wins in 1996 and 2002, and recording a runner-up finish in 1997.
With a spot in the Countdown to 1 secured, McClenathan and the FRAM team are concentrating on maintaining their current No. 4 spot in the point standings heading into the six-race playoffs for the championship following the U.S. Nationals.
“If you had asked me a week and a half ago, I would’ve said we had a slight chance of keeping up with the points leaders,” he said. “But they’ve pulled away and we have to face that fact and try and keep the drivers behind us in the points from catching us. Basically, we just want to solidify our spot in the standings and go out there and qualify well and win the race. That’s our objective.”
After not making the Countdown to 1 last season, McClenathan goes into this year’s U.S. Nationals concentrating on his driving and the performance of the FRAM dragster.
“Last year I missed getting into the Countdown and it was a big letdown for me,” he said. “It’s a very cool feeling to know that we’re in and we’re in solidly and we don’t have to worry about it. You’re able to put your efforts toward other things. Indy is such an important race that it’s hard to look beyond that. Everybody wants to win Indy; I want to win Indy and the championship. I will settle for nothing less. If anybody messes up at all someone is going to be breathing down their neck, so I don’t want to be one of them.”
“I had a long talk with (crew chief) Mike Green and he feels that there are some areas with the car where we can be more aggressive, and it sounds like he’s going to go that route, and I’m excited about that. I think we’ve got a good race car right now, and if we can utilize power in a few different ways it can be that much better at 1,000 feet.”
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