Indianapolis2: Cory McClenathan Saturday summary

McClenathan qualifies 7th at Mac Tools U.S. Nationals

CLERMONT, Ind. (September 6, 2003) -- It's back to action at the 49th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. The event, originally schedule for last weekend, August 29-September 1, was postponed due to inclement weather in the form of thunderstorms and torrential rains and rescheduled for this weekend, Friday, Sept. 5 through Sunday, Sept. 7.

Entering Friday's single qualifying session, Cory McClenathan, driver of the NY Yankees/Berryman Products Top Fuel dragster, was sixth after tripping the Indianapolis Raceway Park's finish line timers in 4.591 seconds last Saturday night in the second of only two qualifying sessions ran last weekend.

When action resumed yesterday (Friday, Sept. 5), the veteran driver improved his elapsed time to 4.558 seconds, but was unable to advance on the qualifying ladder and remained No. 6.

Satisfied with their Friday night pass, on Saturday Darrell Gwynn Racing elected to run only the first session so that they could test the track, then use the remaining time to prepare for tomorrow's eliminations. After the dust had cleared on qualifying, Cory Mac found himself in the top half of the Top Fuel field at No. 7.

"Friday night's run was great," said McClenathan. ""We have already evaluated our first run today and found several problems that prevented us from getting down the track. We feel real comfortable going into tomorrow. Even though it's Indy, we felt it was a smart thing for us to sit out a session and get ready for tomorrow."

In tomorrow's opening stanza, McClenathan will square off against Rhonda Hartman-Smith, who qualified 10th with a pass of 4.754 seconds at 305.34. the pair have met 15 times, with McClenathan winning 12. This year, in one meeting, Hartman-Smith holds the advantage.

After two weekends of qualifying, Gann nails down the third spot

CLERMONT, Ind. (September 6, 2003) -- With three rounds of qualifying postponed last weekend, Shawn Gann, rider of the Mac Tools/Berryman Products Suzuki Pro Stock Bike, entered the second weekend of qualifying in the No. 2 position.

On Friday, Sept. 5, Gann tuned up for eliminations with a 7.200 second pass and maintained his No. 2 position. Today, the Stoneville, N.C., rider improved in both qualifying sessions, only to find himself dropping one position. Gann ended qualifying third on the qualifying ladder. Angelle Savoie and Andrew Hines finished qualifying No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.

In tomorrow's eliminations, Gann, who has two career wins, will square off against Chris Reuter, from Gretna, Neb., who qualified No. 14 aboard a Suzuki with a run of 7.248 seconds at 188.17 mph. Eliminations get underway at 11 a.m., local Indy time (EST).

In the K&N Filters Pro Bike Klash, a special race-within-a-race, held last weekend (August 30), Gann was denied a shot at the top spot when he was turned back by eventual winner Reggie Showers in the semifinals. Although he got away first at the green light, Gann was unable to hold off the hard charging Showers. Showers defeated Geno Scali in the final round to take home the $15,000 winner's share of the purse. Gann, who won the Klash in 2001, was also a semifinalist in 2002.