It's official now -- at least for now.
 
Cory McClenathan set the O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis elapsed-time record Friday to become the early Top Fuel leader at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.
 
With a 3.789-second blast at 319.98 mph, the FRAM Dragster driver improved from what was unofficial but nonetheless an eye-popping performance the previous Thursday during testing.
 
He had led Top Fuel testing with a 3.790-second E.T. at 324.28 mph that was decidedly quicker and faster than ORP's elapsed time and speed records at the time: 3.819 seconds by Tony Schumacher, 319.11 mph by Antron Brown. Schumacher reset the track speed mark at 321.35 mph in the pairing just before the McClenathan-Larry Dixon' nightcap.

It's official now -- at least for now.

Cory McClenathan set the O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis elapsed-time record Friday to become the early Top Fuel leader at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.
 
With a 3.789-second blast at 319.98 mph, the FRAM Dragster driver improved from what was unofficial but nonetheless an eye-popping performance the previous Thursday during testing.
 
He had led Top Fuel testing with a 3.790-second E.T. at 324.28 mph that was decidedly quicker and faster than ORP's elapsed time and speed records at the time: 3.819 seconds by Tony Schumacher, 319.11 mph by Antron Brown. Schumacher reset the track speed mark at 321.35 mph in the pairing just before the McClenathan-Larry Dixon' nightcap.
 
McClenathan swiped the provisional No. 1 position from Don Schumacher Racing teammate Antron Brown, who for a few moments had owned the ORP speed mark at 319.22 mph.
 
He had praised new ORP track manager Kurt Johnson for overseeing a professional prep job in testing, but it was just as pristine Friday night.
 
"The track was better tonight even, and it was getting cooler, dropping like a rock, temperature-wise. So the biggest thing was to try to go out there and repeat what we did [in testing]. We had the same set-up in it. [Crew chiefs] Todd [Okuhara] and Phil [Schuler] have shown again and again how they work together. They're very in tune with each other when it comes to what they're going to do with the set-up. My hat's off to the guys."
 
His car locked up at the close of the run and needed extra time to be removed from the track. But that didn’t worry McClenathan. It's the U.S. Nationals, and he is fired up.
 
"You come here thinking this is going to be another run, another Friday night session, even though you're at Indy. I'm telling you, by the time you get in the staging lanes and the time you roll up here, you could cut the tension with a knife. I could feel my heart rate rising as we get toward the starting line. Even though I've been doing this for 19-plus years, it still does the same thing when it's Indy and it's Friday night."
 
He knew the joy of Friday night could be fleeting, for he feels tremendous pressure from his teammates alone.
 
"We have another show tomorrow night. Antron ran good. I'm sure Tony's going to turn right back around and run around the best. We'll see more (3.)70s before the weekend's out," he said.
 
Brown promised as much, saying, "Our goal was to get down the track. And now we can really wick it up for Saturday's night run, 'cause the conditions are going to be Triple-A throw-down."
 
McClenathan's quest for his first title has ended four times with the significantly less runner-up paycheck. And performing this well heading into the six-race playoff has him even more focused and supercharged -- and determined not to be No. 2 again.
 
He said he believes this FRAM Dragster is "one of the better cars I've ever had underneath me" and that this season is offering him "probably my best chance since '97.  I don’t want to say, 'Hey, it's going to happen.' But it would be a lot of fun if it did. I guarantee we'd rock the house down if we could make it happen."
 
Schumacher, who's seeking his fifth straight and ninth overall U.S. Nationals triumph that would push him past "Big Daddy" Don Garlits on the all-time Indianapolis Top Fuel victory list, also is seeking his seventh consecutive and eighth overall series crown.
 
But the Army Dragster team was racing Friday with heavy hearts. Crew chief Mike Green's mother, Joan Mitchell, passed away Friday morning.
 
“Obviously, our thoughts and prayers go out to Mike and his family,” Schumacher said. “We definitely want to bring home the winner’s trophy on Monday for Mike and his mom.”
 
Green, along with Lee Beard and the workers in the fabrication shop at DSR's Brownsburg, Ind., headquarters, has played a key part in getting McClenathan to where he is at this moment.
 
"He has been really important to this situation," the provisional leader said.
 
Qualifying continues Saturday with sessions scheduled for 3and 6 p.m. and Sunday at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Eliminations are set for Monday.

{source}
<div style="float:left; padding:5px;"><script type="text/javascript">
google_ad_client = "pub-8044869477733334";
/* 300x250, created 4/3/09 */
google_ad_slot = "2028912167";
google_ad_width = 300;
google_ad_height = 250;
</script>
<script src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</div><div style="padding:5px;">

<script type="text/javascript">
sr_adspace_id = 2000000613807;
sr_adspace_width = 300;
sr_adspace_height = 250;
sr_ad_new_window = true;
sr_adspace_type = "graphic";
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://ad.afy11.net/srad.js?azId=2000000613807">
</script></div>
{/source}