McClenathan, Edwards, Arana take points lead with wins; Hight also scores

by Candida Benson, National DRAGSTER Associate Editor
Cory McClenathan (Top Fuel), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock), and Hector Arana (Pro Stock Motorcycle) jumped to the points lead in their respective classes with victories at the NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway. Robert Hight also made a big points move, vaulting from 10th to third when he won in Funny Car.

The NHRA Carolinas Nationals marked the beginning of the 2009 Countdown to 1 playoffs that will determine the Full Throttle world champions, and with the racers entering the event separated by 10 points in most positions, that meant a lot of jumbling throughout the day. McClenathan took the Top Fuel points lead when he won the final round, moving around incoming leader Antron Brown and Tony Schumacher, who are tied for second. The lead remained unchanged in Funny Car with Tony Pedregon keeping the top spot despite losing first round, but behind him, things shuffled quite a bit. Ashley Force Hood moved to second and is just one point back, and winner Hight is third, just 28 points out of the lead. Edwards crushed the competition in Pro Stock, and his points lead of 56 markers reflects that. He took the lead when he won round two then just added to it as he went onto victory. Arana’s final-round victory not only gave him a second straight Wally but the points lead over Eddie Krawiec, whom Arana defeated in the semi’s.

McClenathan picked the perfect time to grab his first win since the spring Las Vegas event last year. Appearing in his fourth final of 2009, McClenathan defeated rookie-of-the-year candidate Shawn Langdon to claim the 31st Top Fuel win of his career. In the final, Langdon got the jump at the Tree and appeared to be in the lead until about the eighth-mile mark when his engine let go. That allowed McClenathan to move around him and win with a 3.857, his best run of the day.

“I feel bigger than life sometimes,” sad McClenathan. “After I won, I was overcome with a sense of ‘Oh my God, it has been so long since I’ve won.’ It has been a year and a half, and that’s too long. My teammate [Tony Schumacher] wins so often, but I don’t. These are the moments I cherish the most.”

“In the semi’s, Doug Foley had me and I knew he had me, but he got in the marbles and his car got loose. Then, in the final, I was really worried about Shawn. Spencer [Massey] has done a good job this year, but Shawn has really been awesome. I even said it on TV. This guy is going to be the next Tony Schumacher. You can close the book on the rookie-of-the-year deal. I know how good he is [on the starting line], which is why I took the biggest chunk you could take in the final round on the starting line.”

McClenathan’s Fram Tough Guard entry lived in the 3.86-second range throughout eliminations as he worked his way to his 57th career final round. He put three straight 3.86s on the boards to dispatch fellow Countdown to 1 contenders Morgan Lucas and Larry Dixon and surprise semifinalist Doug Foley.

Langdon was impressive as he worked his way to his first ever Top Fuel final round. After a pair of 3.88 runs against Doug Kalitta and Terry McMillen in the first two rounds, two-time Super Comp national champion Langdon blasted to a stunning 3.826 that was low e.t. of the weekend to trailer Tony Schumacher in the semi’s.

Hight may have struggled to make the Countdown to 1 field, but he proved he will be a factor in the championship chase after picking up his first win of the 2009 season and doing so with another strong performance. Hight’s car ran no worse than 4.14 all day, including a 4.097 in the final that gave him the victory over rookie driver Matt Hagan.

“It’s unbelievable the timing we’ve got right now because the first part of the year, we stunk this place up; it was terrible,” said Hight. “You start to begin to wonder if you can even win. You look at all these races out here, and it’s not that easy to win. Every round, I had someone in the other lane clear to the finish line. If you’re a little late or something happens to your car, any little thing, you’re going to lose. The last two rounds I had were unbelievably close races [.003- and .010-second margins of victory] with my teammate Ashley Force and then Matt Hagan, who hopefully gets rookie of the year because he’s done a great job and driving these Funny Cars ain’t that easy.

“Jimmy Prock, for whatever reason, has it right now. Definitely, it’s due to ‘Guido’ [Dean Antonelli] and Ron Douglas [crew chiefs for teammate Ashley Force Hood]. Right before Brainerd, we switched everything around just like their car, and they’ve helped us tremendously. They’ve given Jimmy something to go with. Before, our engine would burn up, it would drop cylinders, and was just totally inconsistent. Now, we have a car like Ashley’s had all year long.”

Coming off a runner-up finish in Indy, where he had one of, if not, the best car, Hight’s Auto Club-backed entry ran right down the zMax 1,000-foot course all day long. He opened with a 4.105 that was second-best of the first round to defeat Jerry Toliver, then followed with 4.14 and 4.12 clockings to defeat Bob Tasca III and teammate Ashley Force Hood. In the semifinal run, Hight just edged Force Hood, who finished a mere .003-second back with a 4.13.

Like Top Fuel runner-up Langdon, Hagan bolstered his bid for the Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award when he advanced to his second Funny Car final (the first came in April in Las Vegas). Hagan, whose wife Rachel will give birth to the couple’s second child this week, was pretty much flawless through eliminations. Looking like a bracket car, Hagan put back-to-back 4.14s on the boards to defeat points leader Tony Pedregon and Jeff Arend in the first two rounds. Hagan then powered to a 4.102 to defeat Cruz Pedregon in the semi’s and earn lane choice in the final.

Edwards absolutely dominated the Pro Stock contingent, qualifying No. 1, setting low e.t. and top speed, running low e.t. of every round of eliminations, and winning the event. Edwards handily won the final over Greg Stanfield, taking a .013-second lead at the Tree and outrunning Stanfield by nearly four-hundredths. The end result was not only his fourth win this year and 19th of his career but also the biggest points lead in any category.
“I told Greg [Stanfield] the caution light must have come on my side [of the Tree] first, because he’s hard to leave on,” said Edwards, who is the points leader for the first time in his career and is the 25th driver to lead in Pro Stock. “My car was flawless. It went up and down track every time. It was a great weekend and a great start for this Countdown.

“You’ll never know how hard I’ve worked and how much I’ve wanted this. I know it’s a long way from being over, but it means a lot now. The 6.61 run I made [Saturday] night was great and the .59 this morning was pretty good, too. I’ve been the weak link; I’ve said that many times this year. When you qualify No. 1 11 times and only have four wins you know who to point the finger at. I’m 52 years old, and these guys are young and fast. Hopefully, we can keep this thing on a roll.”

Edwards came out strong and showed he would be tough to beat when he wheeled his Young Life/ART GXP to low e.t. and top speed of the weekend, 6.594 at 209.62, to oust Warren Johnson. He then put 6.62, 6.60, and 6.61 clockings on the board to defeat Tom Hammonds, Allen Johnson, and, in the final, Stanfield.

Stanfield used a combination of good driving and mid-6.6s to advance to his second straight final and third of the year. He opened with a huge win against Greg Anderson, then defeated Kurt Johnson and Steve Spiess to earn a spot in career final No. 20.

Arana’s dream year continued in Charlotte, where he was again the class of the field as he picked up his second straight victory, third in the last four events, and fourth this year. Though he would have been tough to beat with a 7.00 run from his Lucas Oil-backed Buell, opponent Karen Stoffer made things easy for Arana when she went red by six-thousandths.

“I’m still going to keep working hard,” said Arana. “I’d like to make three in a row now. I need to stay focused so I can have a shot at the title. I think have the motorcycle to win this championship. It hasn’t sunk in yet, but this is the best time of my life. For many years I have struggled and worked hard. I had opportunities to win before, but I didn’t. Many years went by, and I started doubting myself, but now, this is my moment.

“The next two races are back to back, so we won’t have a chance to do any testing. When the cars go to Richmond we [Pro Stock Motorcycle racers] have the week off so we can go testing. I have not called Larry [Morgan], but when I do, he’s going to say, ‘Wow, that’s great. I guess this means you’re going to be shipping me some parts. Larry is a big help, and the S&S engine we use is a great engine. I’m enjoying all of this.”

Arana began his march to his seventh career final and fourth of the season with a 6.983 victory against Joe DeSantis. Arana then clocked a 7.01 to dispatch Steve Johnson. In the semi’s, Arana won a pivotal match with Krawiec, beating the incoming points leader on a holeshot in a thrilling 6.997 to 6.991 match.

After a miserable year that included just five round-wins in the first 12 events, Stoffer made a big turnaround when she advanced to her first final of the year and the 11th of her career. Stoffer’s Achilles heel has been the starting line all year, but she won her opening round against Craig Treble at the Tree, parlaying a .003 to .079 reaction-time advantage into a 7.07 to 7.06 holeshot win. She then posted another 7.07 to defeat a red-lighting Junior Pippin and a 7.05 to end Shawn Gann’s day.

Lucas Oil Sportsman winners were Bill Reichert (Top Alcohol Dragster), Frank Manzo (Top Alcohol Funny Car), Rick Brown (Comp), Todd Hoven (Stock), Joe Flynn (Super Comp), and Steve Furr (Super Gas).