On Friday evening at the NHRA SuperNationals in Englishtown, NJ, Cory McClenathan ran a 3.752 elapsed time, the quickest run in the history of NHRA Top Fuel since 1,000 feet became the recognized racing distance. McClenathan believes if the conditions are conducive to quick runs on raceday, he’s confident he’ll either back up the provisional record or establish a new mark.

McClenathan confidence comes from not only his team but also the
students and their professors in the Motorsports Engineering program at Indiana Univ. Purdue Univ. at Indianapolis (IUPUI).

"We have been working very closely with IUPUI at Don Schumacher Racing, and those kids over there are just unbelievable when it comes to aerodynamics and the way a chassis should work. They were a big part of how we built our DSR car last year and different configurations we tried this year.”

On Friday evening at the NHRA SuperNationals in Englishtown, NJ, Cory McClenathan ran a 3.752 elapsed time, the quickest run in the history of NHRA Top Fuel since 1,000 feet became the recognized racing distance. McClenathan believes if the conditions are conducive to quick runs on raceday, he’s confident he’ll either back up the provisional record or establish a new mark.

McClenathan confidence comes from not only his team but also the
students and their professors in the Motorsports Engineering program at Indiana Univ. Purdue Univ. at Indianapolis (IUPUI).

"We have been working very closely with IUPUI at Don Schumacher Racing, and those kids over there are just unbelievable when it comes to aerodynamics and the way a chassis should work. They were a big part of how we built our DSR car last year and different configurations we tried this year.”

McClenathan drives one of the DSR in-house dragsters aimed at cutting through the air better than the designs of the last few years.

"This car is basically kind of set up the way they like to see things go in the future, especially when it comes to aerodynamics,” McClenathan said. “We're testing some stuff this weekend on different parts of the car...and this was really a tribute to what happens when you put good people together.”

Don’t get McClenathan wrong, he’s been awfully fast prior to the new design with Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler, a pair of former Funny Car tuners with a tendency to get aggressive with their tune-ups, turning the wrenches.

" Not taking anything away from Todd, Phil and the guys on the FRAM car, but at the same time it's a good partnership [with the school]," McClenathan noted.

McClenathan maintained his top qualifying position on Saturday and will face No. 16 qualifier Doug Foley in the first round of Sunday’s eliminations.