NHRA Story » McClenathan, Rapisarda team up again for 2012 Top Fuel assault

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McClenathan, Rapisarda team up again for 2012 Top Fuel assault

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

by Phil Burgess, National DRAGSTER Editor

Cory McClenathan, a four-time championship runner-up, will partner again with veteran Australian car owner Santo Rapisarda for the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season and a shot at making the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

McClenathan, one of Top Fuel racing’s most experienced competitors, and the team will test the Santo’s Cranes entry this weekend in Las Vegas in anticipation of launching their season at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries in Pomona.

The duo partnered for five races in the last half of the 2011 season and qualified three times with the new team.

“The plan is to step up our program this year and stay in the top 10. Our initial plan is to go hard the first 12 to 13 races and then assess where we are. If we’re in the top 10 or close to it, we’ll keep going. By then, I should have been able to find the funding to keep the car out there.

“We ran in the .80s last year, not bad for a car that didn’t have all of the latest tricks, and we weren’t hurting anything, so we feel confident we can press the tune-up harder and get into the mid- to low 3.80s fairly easily,” said McClenathan.

McClenathan finished second in the Full Throttle points standings in 1992,1995, 1999, and 2000 and was a top-four finisher in 2008 and 2009. He has 38 wins, 34 in Top Fuel, in which he has raced since 1991. Before turning Pro, McClenathan won four races in the Top Alcohol Dragster class with his Mac Attack entry.

The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season kicks off Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries. Click here to get your tickets.

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