Under nearly ideal atmospheric conditions at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, Cory McClenathan claimed the No. 1 position in Top Fuel at the 41st annual NHRA SuperNationals and set the quickest elapsed time racing to 1000 feet in NHRA history of 3.752-seconds at 324.75 mph. His speed in the FRAM Top Fuel Dragster was also the second fastest speed to 1000 feet. Both are track records.
To back it up by one percent for a national record and earn 20 bonus points, McClenathan will have to record a 3.789-second lap during the remainder of the weekend.
His first qualifying lap today was a 3.843/317.12 (No. 4).
“The FRAM guys were going up there thinking if this thing runs 3.78 we’re not going to feel too good about it,” said McClenathan. “So, I knew (crew chiefs) Todd (Okuhara) and Phil (Shuler) were throwing everything at it. We’ve just been creeping up on it and the first thing Todd said when we got back was, “this is something we tried three different times and it hadn’t made it down the track.’ So this time everything went perfect.
“It nosed over down there a little bit, probably at about 900 feet. But other than that it was a perfect run.
“My thought was, Man, it’s over already? I came around the corner and the Safety Safari guys are going crazy, so I knew it had to be good.”
McClenathan gave credit to the students and their professors in the Motorsports Engineering program at Indiana Univ. Purdue Univ. at Indianapolis (IUPUI).
“We have been working very closely with IUPUI at Don Schumacher Racing, and those kids over there are just unbelievable when it comes to aerodynamics and the way chassis should work. They were a big part of how we built our DSR car last year and different configurations we tried this year.
“This car is basically kind of set up the way they like to see things go in the future, especially when it comes to aerodynamics. We’re testing some stuff this weekend on different parts of the car…and this was really a tribute to what happens when you put good people together.
“My hat’s off to those guys. Not taking anything away from Todd, Phil and the guys on the FRAM car, but at the same time it’s a good partnership.”
As for backing up the run for a national record, “I really do think that we can back it up,” he said.
We can go for it tomorrow. It’s one of those thing where we would like to make everything happen all the time for everybody. Right now is a good time for us. If the conditions are right, we’ll go for it.”
Two more rounds of qualifying on Saturday will determine the Top Fuel field for Sunday’s eliminations.
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