UPDATED - CORY MAC OKAY WITH CHANGE
Sat, 2009-03-28 08:00
Cory Mac is not the superstitious type. So it doesn't 
matter
that when he lines up Saturday morning to make his first qualifying run
of the day that the paint scheme which propelled him to the provisional
pole on Friday will have been replaced by a completely different
scheme.
“I was thinking it was going to be more along the lines of the next race,” McClenathan said. “Then I heard it is going to be tomorrow, and then I heard the next race, it’s going back and forth. I’m excited and it’s going to be a very bright scheme and different than what I’ve got. You can still see the flames and it is going to be the FRAM Tough Guard car. I’m looking forward to it and the FRAM Tough Guard is the next step up from the FRAM oil filter. There are three in their line. I think they just wanted to showcase some of their stuff. I think everybody is going to like what we unveil.” Cory Mac is not the superstitious type. So it doesn't matter that when he lines up Saturday morning to make his first qualifying run of the day that the paint scheme which propelled him to the provisional pole on Friday will have been replaced by a completely different scheme.
“I was thinking it was going to be more along the lines of the next race,” McClenathan said. “Then I heard it is going to be tomorrow, and then I heard the next race, it’s going back and forth. I’m excited and it’s going to be a very bright scheme and different than what I’ve got. You can still see the flames and it is going to be the FRAM Tough Guard car. I’m looking forward to it and the FRAM Tough
Guard is the next
step up from the FRAM oil filter. There are three in their line. I
think they just wanted to showcase some of their stuff. I think
everybody is going to like what we unveil.”
“It’s going to be much brighter and different, but when I am in the car I won’t be able to tell the difference. Hopefully that won’t be superstitious to me. When something looks good and runs good, and you can only do better then I’m all for that.”
There will be a full field of Top Fuel drivers looking to knock McClenathan from the top spot, which he captured in first round qualifying with a stout 3.905 seconds, 313 mph run. Antron Brown was second, almost a hundredth of a second back with a run of 3.912 at 305.63 mph.
Those in attendance held their collective breath as the Top Fuel dragsters took to the strip. Several rain delays and a few oil downs had already produced some fairly tense moments.
When Cory Mac and Tony Schumacher lined up in opposite lanes, a real barn burner was expected. It never happened. Schumacher led to the 60 foot mark before tire shake set in and the reigning champ was forced to shut down, coasting to the line.
Anticipating great conditions for the night run, McClenathan was unsure if he was disappointed or not when it was canceled.
“You do and you don’t,” he said when asked if he wanted to run or not. “All of a sudden, that rain shower that everyone has been waiting for comes in and then it’s sunny 20 minutes later. We thought, ‘get back on our game, we had it tuned up and we had more clutch on it.’
“We were going to go for it because we were in that position. Why not?
“It’s supposed to be cooler and drier tomorrow. It won’t be as humid. We figured if we had that shot tonight that we could work on our combination. That’s the one thing we’ve been lacking and haven’t been able to work on this year. Everybody made all the right calls and I thought that we were going to get a shot at this. The weather Gods decided not to give us that chance.”
Expectations have been high for Cory Mac, but his believes those keeping a close eye haven't understood what's been going on.
“We were testing and not making full passes and everyone wasn’t sure what was going on,” McClenathan answered when asked how it’s working out with new crew chiefs Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler, longtime Funny Car tuners. “Todd and Phil work well together. When you go from a Funny Car to a dragster, you open up more tuning windows and learn more ways about running the clutch. They are starting to learn that out now.
“The idea of Lee Beard coming in at DSR has helped everyone as a whole. It has also given another person to enable them to shoot ideas off of. Beard has come in with some suggestions on our dragster and we have been able to utilize that. Crew chiefs can only use what they think is going to work out good for them. When it comes down to it, the guy who works with the car day in and day out, which is Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler, they are the ones who make the decisions. I firmly believe that. Lee brings a lot to the table … very smart … very organized … he’s very polished. He’s the perfect guy to have as manager here. He’s doing a great job.”
matter
that when he lines up Saturday morning to make his first qualifying run
of the day that the paint scheme which propelled him to the provisional
pole on Friday will have been replaced by a completely different
scheme. “I was thinking it was going to be more along the lines of the next race,” McClenathan said. “Then I heard it is going to be tomorrow, and then I heard the next race, it’s going back and forth. I’m excited and it’s going to be a very bright scheme and different than what I’ve got. You can still see the flames and it is going to be the FRAM Tough Guard car. I’m looking forward to it and the FRAM Tough Guard is the next step up from the FRAM oil filter. There are three in their line. I think they just wanted to showcase some of their stuff. I think everybody is going to like what we unveil.” Cory Mac is not the superstitious type. So it doesn't matter that when he lines up Saturday morning to make his first qualifying run of the day that the paint scheme which propelled him to the provisional pole on Friday will have been replaced by a completely different scheme.
“I was thinking it was going to be more along the lines of the next race,” McClenathan said. “Then I heard it is going to be tomorrow, and then I heard the next race, it’s going back and forth. I’m excited and it’s going to be a very bright scheme and different than what I’ve got. You can still see the flames and it is going to be the FRAM Tough Guard car. I’m looking forward to it and the FRAM Tough
UPDATE - MCCLENATHAN DEBUTS FRAM TOUGH GUARD SCHEME IN HOUSTON
Today at the NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park, Cory McClenathan rolled out a brand-new body on the Top Fuel Dragster he drives for Don Schumacher Racing in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, promoting the FRAM Tough Guard line of oil filters from parent company, Honeywell Consumer Products Group.
The car was decked out in a snappy white-and-silver design with the requisite flame pattern reminiscent of dragsters of the past and will sport this new design throughout the remainder of the 2009 NHRA season.
In a line of Honeywell products representing the good, better and best, FRAM Tough Guard falls into the "better" category, according to FRAM representatives. The FRAM line of filters includes:
Good - FRAM Extra Guard
Better - FRAM Tough Guard
Best - FRAM Extended Guard
"In my mind, they have best, better and betterer FRAM filters," said McClenathan, who was low qualifier on Friday at the NHRA Spring Nationals. "FRAM Tough Guard filters are for the people who are trying to put a lot of miles on their vehicles and they're guaranteed to work that much harder for the consumer.
"People aren't buying new cars nowadays,” he added. “They're like me, they have trucks that have 100,000 miles on them and vehicles that have a lot of miles on them and they're trying to make them last. So we want to promote FRAM Tough Guard to these owners. These filters can help them keep their cars for a long time."
Today at the NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park, Cory McClenathan rolled out a brand-new body on the Top Fuel Dragster he drives for Don Schumacher Racing in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, promoting the FRAM Tough Guard line of oil filters from parent company, Honeywell Consumer Products Group.
The car was decked out in a snappy white-and-silver design with the requisite flame pattern reminiscent of dragsters of the past and will sport this new design throughout the remainder of the 2009 NHRA season.
In a line of Honeywell products representing the good, better and best, FRAM Tough Guard falls into the "better" category, according to FRAM representatives. The FRAM line of filters includes:
Good - FRAM Extra Guard
Better - FRAM Tough Guard
Best - FRAM Extended Guard
"In my mind, they have best, better and betterer FRAM filters," said McClenathan, who was low qualifier on Friday at the NHRA Spring Nationals. "FRAM Tough Guard filters are for the people who are trying to put a lot of miles on their vehicles and they're guaranteed to work that much harder for the consumer.
"People aren't buying new cars nowadays,” he added. “They're like me, they have trucks that have 100,000 miles on them and vehicles that have a lot of miles on them and they're trying to make them last. So we want to promote FRAM Tough Guard to these owners. These filters can help them keep their cars for a long time."
“It’s going to be much brighter and different, but when I am in the car I won’t be able to tell the difference. Hopefully that won’t be superstitious to me. When something looks good and runs good, and you can only do better then I’m all for that.”
There will be a full field of Top Fuel drivers looking to knock McClenathan from the top spot, which he captured in first round qualifying with a stout 3.905 seconds, 313 mph run. Antron Brown was second, almost a hundredth of a second back with a run of 3.912 at 305.63 mph.
Those in attendance held their collective breath as the Top Fuel dragsters took to the strip. Several rain delays and a few oil downs had already produced some fairly tense moments.
When Cory Mac and Tony Schumacher lined up in opposite lanes, a real barn burner was expected. It never happened. Schumacher led to the 60 foot mark before tire shake set in and the reigning champ was forced to shut down, coasting to the line.
Anticipating great conditions for the night run, McClenathan was unsure if he was disappointed or not when it was canceled.
“You do and you don’t,” he said when asked if he wanted to run or not. “All of a sudden, that rain shower that everyone has been waiting for comes in and then it’s sunny 20 minutes later. We thought, ‘get back on our game, we had it tuned up and we had more clutch on it.’
“We were going to go for it because we were in that position. Why not?
“It’s supposed to be cooler and drier tomorrow. It won’t be as humid. We figured if we had that shot tonight that we could work on our combination. That’s the one thing we’ve been lacking and haven’t been able to work on this year. Everybody made all the right calls and I thought that we were going to get a shot at this. The weather Gods decided not to give us that chance.”
Expectations have been high for Cory Mac, but his believes those keeping a close eye haven't understood what's been going on.
“We were testing and not making full passes and everyone wasn’t sure what was going on,” McClenathan answered when asked how it’s working out with new crew chiefs Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler, longtime Funny Car tuners. “Todd and Phil work well together. When you go from a Funny Car to a dragster, you open up more tuning windows and learn more ways about running the clutch. They are starting to learn that out now.
“The idea of Lee Beard coming in at DSR has helped everyone as a whole. It has also given another person to enable them to shoot ideas off of. Beard has come in with some suggestions on our dragster and we have been able to utilize that. Crew chiefs can only use what they think is going to work out good for them. When it comes down to it, the guy who works with the car day in and day out, which is Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler, they are the ones who make the decisions. I firmly believe that. Lee brings a lot to the table … very smart … very organized … he’s very polished. He’s the perfect guy to have as manager here. He’s doing a great job.”
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