Veteran Top Fuel driver Cory McClenathan is going off road racing again in 2017.

Cory Mac, as he is known, finished in sixth place in the points standings in the Lucas Oil Off Road Regional 2016 season.

Now, McClenathan is brimming with confidence as he gets ready for the 2017 season behind the wheel of the No. 66 Fabtech ProLite truck. The truck is owned by Dave Winner, a longtime friend of McClenathan’s. Cory Mac is a teammate to Cory Winner, who will be driving the No. 67 Fabtech ProLite Truck.

“I love NHRA and I miss it, and I still go to the races at Pomona, but just trying to get the money to go do it right and all the changes they have there have made it a little bit difficult,” McClenathan said. “I was able to get some of my older sponsors and bring on a new sponsor to make the truck affordable to go racing and do it right.”

Cory Mac has won 34 career Top Fuel national events, the last coming in Seattle in 2010 when he was behind the wheel for Don Schumacher Racing. McClenathan has finished second in NHRA’s Top Fuel world standings four times in his career – 1992, ’95, ’97-98.
McClenathan was quick to praise the sponsors who are making this off-road adventure possible for him.

“We are excited to announce new partnerships with Revchem Composites, Nordic Boats, FK Rod Ends, BK Fabworks and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers - Local 47,” McClenathan said. “We will have continued support from Impact, General Tires GT, Ultra Race Wheels, Maxima Racing Oils, SignPros, Dirt Logic, Motive Gear, Inland Empire Recycling, Powertrain Industries, Eibach and PCI. We also want to give special thanks to Barry Karakas at BK Fabworks for the awesome fab work and race prep to get us ready for the new season.  We have a fresh motor from NoGrady Race Engines and transmission from Tony at Rancho Industries.”

After getting a solid off-road season under his belt, Cory Mac is upbeat.

“I ran almost all the races in 2016 and ended up in sixth place and I was happy with that for a start,” McClenathan said. “Trying to get on the podium in one of these things is a lot harder than I ever imagined. You look at it from the stands and anybody says ‘Oh, I can do that.’ Well, I have news for you, I’ve been driving race cars my whole life and it’s a lot harder than I ever imagined. The technical part of it and reading the dirt are big things. Going straight and jumping high is awesome, but when you do that eventually there’s going to be a left turn.”

Cory Mac acknowledged off-road racing is a different type of an adrenaline rush than drag racing.

“The biggest difference is being out there with the competitors and going door-to-door and sometimes going into a jump or into a turn three-wide when it should be more like two-wide is crazy,” McClenathan said. “When you get three guys going into like a table top and you’re 30 feet off the ground and your flying 70 feet and you are all in the air and nobody has any control whatsoever for what’s coming, that definitely gets my attention. I have wrecked it. I have caught it on fire, I’ve done everything I would do in a dragster, but I ‘ve been able to get up and walk away and the guys can fix it because I have some good people around me.“

McClenathan has one focus in his off-road career.

“I want to cros over from drag racing to off road, and win,” McClenathan said. “I don’t think anybody has to ever done that to my understanding. There’s no reason I can’t start winning if I learn this the right way and get a good truck underneath me I think I can I run up there with the best of them eventually. It just takes time.”

Despite his new type of racing, Cory Mac hasn’t closed the door on his NHRA career yet.

“My stuff is ready to go,” he said. “All I have to do is walk in and buy a plane ticket, grab my stuff and I would be out the door. I miss it. I miss the camaraderie. I miss the people. It has been my life forever, and I’m sure there’s people who would love to see me go that direction. While I’m not drag racing I still want to race something because I must be in competition, somehow, someway. I’m fully committed to this (off-road racing). I love it. I love the people.”