Indianapolis: Cory McClenathan eliminations summary

Cory McClenathan: Qualified No. 1: 4.553 seconds at 322.34 mph
Eliminations:
Round #1: McClenathan (4.672/318.62) def. Yuichi Oyama (4.877/300.26)
Round #2 (Quarterfinals): McClenathan (10.096/111.00) lost to Tony Schumacher (5.856/296.24)

Disappointing loss for Cory McClenathan at Mac Tools U. S. Nationals.

CLERMONT, Ind. -- Qualifying was the "thrill of victory", while elimination were "the agony of defeat" for Cory McClenathan, driver of the Henkelman and Baca Motorsports special edition Mac Tools Stars and Stripes Dragster.

In qualifying for the NHRA Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, McClenathan set the pace on the opening day when he recorded a pass of 4.553 seconds at 322.34 mph. That stood for the entire five rounds of qualifying and McClenathan had his first #1 of 2002 and 27th of his career.

Then came eliminations. After easily dispatching Yuichi Oyama, from Tokyo, in the opening round of eliminations, McClenathan and Tony Schumacher got into a battle of smoking tires and seeing who can get to the finish line first. Schumacher recovered first, then McClenathan. McClenathan then lost a blower belt and Schumacher raced away to the win light.

"I don't know. We ran a 4.67 (seconds) first round, thought everything was going to be great. No problems. Then we go back up to repeat and smoke the tires. We must have had a clutch malfunction that's all I can think of. We haven't really been able to sink our teeth into the problem here. I'm just really disappointed. Not the Indy I was hoping for. Not the ending to the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals I was hoping for," said McClenathan.

Next up for Cory Mac and the Henkelman & Baca Motorsports team is the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals which will unfold September 13-15 at Maple Grove Raceway, near Reading, Pa.

-h&bm-