After the FRAM Top Fuel dragster was damaged during Cory McClenathan’s first-round victory at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Concord, N.C., he went on to win the event with a chassis that was rebuilt at the track between rounds. At this weekend’s 23rd annual NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park, the FRAM dragster will arrive with an updated chassis as points leader McClenathan looks for his third victory at this track and the third of the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season.
“The FRAM guys at the Don Schumacher Racing shop in Brownsburg, Ind., back-halved the car while I was with my dad and mom in California this week getting my dad squared away after his triple-bypass,” said McClenathan. “Todd (Okuhara, co-crew chief with Phil Shuler) and I kept in close contact and everything was going along quite well.
“We had to back-half the car from the driver’s compartment back,” added McClenathan, the 1998 and 2000 Houston Top Fuel champion. “We had to have the fab guys at DSR weld a whole new chassis on the car. That’s not uncommon; it happens a lot in this business. It’s identical to the way it was, and it won’t change the performance of the car. Looking forward to it. It will be fun.
“At the end of every conversation I have with the crew chiefs, we always say, ‘let’s get qualified, let’s go one round at a time and let’s continue down that path.’
“We have had a great car this year. I think the FRAM guys are really starting to get the hang of this dragster thing after a year tuning a Top Fuel car,” he said of his crew chiefs Okuhara and Shuler, who switched from tuning Funny Cars to Top Fuel cars, “and doing a great job with it. It’s been a lot of fun driving this thing.
“It’s all gone the way we were hoping it would. I would have to say I’m really excited. No matter where we go, what race we go to, I’m excited about it. And now we’re going to Houston where we’ve done very well in the past.”
McClenathan is in his 20th year of Top Fuel competition and is still seeking his first championship, after finishing as a runner-up four times since 1991.
CORY MCCLENATHAN QUICK FACTS:
* No. 1 in 2010 point standings, after semifinal finish and two victories in the first four races; 52 points ahead of DSR teammate Tony Schumacher
* Is the 2009 Top Fuel champion in Houston in 1998 and 2000; runner-up in 2003, 2005, 2009
* Qualified No. 9 in 2009 Houston; was runner-up to Tony Schumacher
* No. 4 in 2009 year-end standings with a victory in Concord, N.C., the opening round of the playoffs
* Had one win in four final rounds in 2009, plus five semifinal and six quarterfinal finishes
* Qualified No. 1 once in 2009 (Bristol); has two No. 1s so far in 2010
* No. 5 in 2009 “regular season” Top Fuel point standings
* No. 3 in 2008 Top Fuel point standings, including one win in three final rounds, as well as eight semifinal, six quarterfinal, seven first-round finishes and two No. 1 qualifiers
* Has 33 career Top Fuel victories in 59 final rounds
* Career-best elapsed time to 1000 feet: 3.784 seconds (Richmond ‘09)
* Career-best speed to 1000 feet: 322.50 mph (Gainesville 2010)
* First driver to break the 320-mph barrier with 322.17-mph run in Dallas in 1997
* Has recorded 477 career round wins in Top Fuel
* Qualified No. 1 35 times, with a career-high seven times in 1993
* Recorded 400th round win in Top Fuel in Richmond 2007
* Has finished No. 2 in the standings four times (1992, 1995, 1997 and 1998)
* Finished No. 10 in rookie season in 1991; made first 4-second run
* Made NHRA history with first run in the 4.70s (4.799) at Reading in 1992
* Swept the three-race Western Swing in 1997 en route to four consecutive wins and career-high six victories in eight final rounds
* Won four of the first six races in 1998. Equaled career-best with six wins in eight finals
* Won the U.S. Nationals twice (1996, 1999)
* Missed four races in 1993 after crash in Rockingham and still finished sixth in the Top Fuel points
* Age 46 (January 30, 1963); born in Wichita, Kansas, now lives in Brownsburg, Ind.; daughter Courtney (10/25/90); engaged to Debi
* Joined Don Schumacher Racing in 2008; 2010 is fifth season with sponsorship from FRAM
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