Championship Drag Racing

Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals
Reading, Pa.
(Oct. 8-10)

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Cory McClenathan Berryman Products Top Fueler

Reports: Sunday Saturday Pre-race 2 Pre-race

Reading, Sunday: In the opening round match up between Cory McClenathan and Bob Vandergriff Jr., it was a battle to see who could get hooked back up and take the win light as eliminations got underway at the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals.

At the green light, both drivers left together. Immediately following the launch both drivers lost traction and the big rear Goodyear's broke loose. Both pedaled trying to regain traction. Only Vandergriff was successful as McClenathan's Carrier Boyz Racing Berryman Products Top Fuel shook the tires and he wisely shut it down.

Vandergriff reached the finish line in 5.577 seconds, while Cory Mac coasted to an elapsed time of 9.980 seconds.

"We didn't do what we set out to do and that was to gain points," said McClenathan, who qualified seventh. "We have to close our backdoor because (Doug) Herbert, who's right behind us in POWERade points, is making a charge. With his win in the opening round he has already picked up 20 points today. We'll come back stronger at Vegas."

Reading, Saturday: Saving his best pass down the Maple Grove Raceway quarter-mile until the fourth and final qualifying session, Cory McClenathan, driver of the Carrier Boyz Racing Berryman Products Top Fuel dragster, qualified No. 7 for tomorrow's eliminations at the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals.

Having run a best elapsed time yesterday of 4.701 seconds, McClenathan, from Anaheim, Calif., bounced back today clicking off times of 4.698 seconds this morning and then moved up the qualifying ladder into seventh when he stopped the finish line timing lights in 4.573 seconds.

"We finally shook things loose in that last pass," said McClenathan. "Now tomorrow we need to go rounds and pick up all the points we can in this race and then do the same in the final two."

He will face Bob Vandergriff Jr. in the opening round tomorrow. Vandergriff, from Alpharetta, Ga., qualified No. 10 with a run of 4.640 seconds at 299.46 mph. The will be their first match up of 2004. In 16 career meetings, McClenathan has come away victorious 12 times.

Cory Mac's quest for a guaranteed position in the Budweiser Shootout came to successful climax here at the Lucas Oil Nationals, the final event at which to earn qualifying points for the Shootout.

In the newly-established qualifying procedure for the 2004 Budweiser Shootout, a special race-within-a-race being held during the NHRA ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, October 30, only the seven Top Fuel drivers in positions 1-7 are guaranteed a spot in the Shootout. The eighth position spot, a wild card position, will be awarded to one of the eight drivers who qualify in positions 8-15 through a special lottery drawing.

When McClenathan visited Maple Grove Raceway in September, which was subsequently rained out, he was in the No. 8 spot in the Shootout with 2,330 points, 65 points behind Doug Herbert in seventh and 140 points behind Larry Dixon in sixth.

In a shocking comeback, McClenathan leaves Reading this time in the No. 6 position in the Shootout, 10 points ahead of Herbert, who finishes in seventh, and 50 points in front of Larry Dixon in eighth.

"The credit for this comeback goes to Todd (Smith, crew chief), John Stewart (co-crew chief), who joined the team at Dallas and all the guys on the crew who make this car run," said McClenathan.

Reading, pre-race 2: A lot of changes have happened to Carrier Boyz Racing, owned by Andy and Mark Carrier, and their driver Cory McClenathan since the team was here in September for the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals, which was interrupted by the rains from the remnants of Hurricane Ivan and moved to this weekend.

Perhaps the biggest news came last weekend at the CARQUEST Auto Parts Nationals at Route 66 Raceway near Chicago, when Fram announced a multi-year sponsorship agreement beginning in 2005 with the Carrier Boyz Racing Top Fuel team and McClenathan.

"The future looks exciting with Honeywell onboard," said Andy Carrier. "Being with a Fortune 500 company means a lot to this program. This team has jelled and Cory McClenathan is one of the reasons for our success and he is one of the reasons that FRAM believes in Carrier Boyz Racing."

His brother Mark added, "This is a goal that our team has worked for over the past two years. Honeywell is a company that wants to win and that fits the philosophy of our team. They manufacture and market the highest quality products and we're proud to be associated with their organization."

The remainder of the changes came about in Cory Mac's quest for a guaranteed position in the Budweiser Shootout, a special race-within-a-race being held during the NHRA ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

In the newly-established qualifying procedure for the 2004 Budweiser Shootout only the seven Top Fuel drivers in positions 1-7 will be guaranteed a spot in the Shootout. The eighth position spot, a wild card position, will be awarded to one of the eight drivers who qualify in positions 8-15 through a special lottery drawing.

When McClenathan visited Maple Grove Raceway in September he was in the No. 8 spot with 2,330 points, 65 points behind Doug Herbert in seventh.

Then at Dallas, the Anaheim, Calif., driver picked up 20 of the needed 65 points. But the biggest surprise came at Chicago last weekend.

McClenathan qualified No. 1, while Herbert qualified fifth. That narrowed the gap to ten points. But when Larry Dixon did not qualify at the CARQUEST Auto Parts Nationals, both Herbert and McClenathan moved up a spot, sixth and seventh, respectively, and Dixon dropped to eighth, 45 points behind Cory Mac.

"We are currently where we want to be and need to be," said McClenathan. "But it's not a done deal yet. We need to qualify high and the points should take care of themselves. We can't get overconfident. We just need to go out and do our job."

Reading, pre-race: Including the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals this weekend at Maple Grove Raceway, near Reading Penn., there are only three races remaining for Cory McClenathan, driver of the Carrier Boyz Berryman Products Top Fuel dragster, to accumulate enough points to be guaranteed a spot in the lucrative Budweiser Shootout.

In the newly established qualifying procedure for the 2004 Budweiser Shootout, only the seven Top Fuel drivers in positions 1-7 will be guaranteed a spot in the Shootout. The eighth position spot, a wild card position, will be awarded to one of the eight drivers who qualify in positions 8-15 through a special lottery drawing.

Currently, McClenathan is in the No. 8 spot with 2330 points, 65 points behind Doug Herbert in seventh.

"We have not been consistent in our qualifying efforts this year and find ourselves with the possibility of having to get into the Budweiser Shootout through the lottery drawing," said McClenathan.

"Our only hope is to pick up enough points on Doug Herbert in the next three races so that we are guaranteed a spot. I'm sure Herbert is going all out to make sure we don't takeover the No. 7 position. We won't give up through these last three races. I've never had any luck with lotteries, so I want to get it done by good hard racing."

The 2004 Budweiser Shootout will be contested at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, October 30, during the NHRA ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals.

McClenathan's goal at the Lucas Oil Nationals is to not only pick up points on Herbert but to also take home a second win of 2004.

"Our first goal is to pick up shootout points on Herbert but then we need to pick up POWERade points on Larry Dixon and David Grubnic," continued Cory Mac, who won this event in 1997. "They are right ahead of us in points and a win here would go a long way in narrowing the gap."

Entering this weekend's Lucas Oil Nationals, McClenathan has 921 points, good for seventh in the NHRA POWERade Top Fuel point standings. He is 159 points behind Dixon in sixth and 172 behind Grubnic in fifth.

Cory Mac begins his pursuit of the Top Fuel title at Maple Grove Raceway when professional nitro qualifying starts on Friday.