Cory Mac - What it takes to get in the race
Down to the wire: Behind the scenes of one team’s important qualifying pass
by Billy Knight,
Billy Knight, who works with Fram Top Fuel driver Cory McClenathan and helps him prepare his NHRA.com Driver Blog, filed this behind-the-scenes report about the team’s final qualifying effort at the Torco Racing
66 NHRA Nationals.
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Heading into the fourth and final Top Fuel qualifying session of the Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 NHRA Nationals, Cory McClenathan’s crew moved toward the Route 66 Raceway staging lanes with a definite goal in mind: Get the Fram Top Fuel dragster off the bump spot. They knew it would take a total team effort — a combination of focus and professionalism — to get their driver not only into the show but into the top half of the field; challenging, yes, but definitely not out of reach.
Sitting on the bump spot is not normal or acceptable for McClenathan and the team, and ominous-looking skies didn’t make the situation any less tense as the team made its way to the starting line in an attempt to bump the Fram dragster into the field.Working in concert with precision and purpose, knowing that even the slightest misstep could result in the failure to meet the intended goal, there was little verbal communication as all crewmembers knew exactly what they were supposed to do.
The tow vehicle slowly pulled the Fram dragster toward the staging lanes as two crewmembers rode in back with the hatch open. They kept their eyes on the Fram dragster, continually inspecting everything in view. The team stopped in the staging lanes and immediately went to work again, preparing the dragster. While one crewmember checked tire pressure, another checked the chutes and gave the car a visual inspection. The team eventually gathered for a last-minute chat with McClenathan. The skies were threatening to let loose with what looked like an oncoming cloudburst, and McClenathan expressed concern about getting the run completed before the rain came.
The Fram team crept forward in the staging lanes then pulled beneath the tower, revealing the crowd as well as a head-on view of the dragstrip. Cory Mac and the crewmembers scanned the track, the intensity in their eyes telling as to the importance of the upcoming run.
McClenathan suited up to prepare for his shot at the quarter-mile. Crewmember Ron Freedman (aka “Goat”) assisted Cory Mac, as he always does, but not a word was spoken. As a military air crew checks all systems before a flight, McClenathan’s gear was checked, then double-checked. When he was ready, he headed for the seat.As McClenathan stepped toward the Fram dragster, the man whose friends know him as being one of the nicest guys around seemed to turn to cold steel. He walked with intense purpose, focused on the task at hand. Lowering himself into the custom-fitted driver’s seat, it looked as if the Fram dragster had literally swallowed him alive.
As soon as he sank into the car, the crew went to work again, cinching his Simpson harnesses tight. “Goat” and McClenathan shook hands. It was go time.
The crew momentarily faded from Cory Mac’s view as he sat in the Fram dragster. He locked his eyes on the view down the dragstrip, his focus incredible.
After receiving the signal from the starter, the crew brought the Fram dragster to life, and McClenathan crept into the water box for his burnout. As he hit the throttle and lit the Goodyears, two members of the Fram team headed down the return road and past the finish line to the place where they receive the timing slip for the run. Reaching their destination, they waited to hear the hit of the throttle. Then, with the sound of distant thunder approaching at breakneck speed, McClenathan hit the throttle.
After only about a second into the run, the two crewmembers in the tow vehicle could tell by the sound of the engine that the run was going to be a good one, and their knowledge was confirmed when a 4.59, 324.75 was announced. They tried to hide it, but they smiled. Cory Mac and the Fram team had just moved from the No. 16 qualifying position to the top half of the field at No. 8.
As McClenathan was being interviewed by ESPN, the Fram dragster crew went back to work, only this time there was a bit of light conversation and smiles all around. The cold-steel driver had turned back into the friendly Cory McClenathan everybody knows, and he approached the Fram crew with a smile so wide that he almost looked animated and told the guys that they had done a good job, then headed to the tow vehicle.
The crew stopped at the scale and weighed in after the run, then headed back to the Fram pit just as the rain began to fall. Everybody simply looked at each other and smiled.
The crew had the car apart before you could yell, “Get out of the way!” Again, with little or no conversation, they all knew their jobs and went about working like a Navy Seal team on a mission. What a crew!
The crew makes it all happen. Just as in the military, the mission doesn’t get done without support. The professionalism and intense focus of the Fram team is likely an accurate representation of what all of the Top Fuel and Funny Car teams do to make their cars competitive. It has been said that spectacular achievement is always preceded with unspectacular preparation. It would definitely be worth a trip to the nitro pits to see the Fram boys (soon to be featured individually on Cory Mac’s blog) and the rest of the teams perform their unspectacular preparation.
