Detour for McClenathan

Before NHRA Top Fuel driver Cory McClenathan heads to Pacific Raceways outside of Seattle in Washington, the second stop of three known as the West Coast swing in drag racing circles, he will be making a pit stop in California.
"Three weeks on the road is tough, but I have to go back to California before I get to Seattle and bury my grandmother (who died last week) and then I'll be in Seattle on Thursday ready to start qualifying and hopefully knock 'em dead on Sunday," McClenathan said.
McClenathan is fourth in the NHRA Top Fuel standings and has won once at Pacific Raceways in 1997. Last year he was the 11th qualifier and was eliminated in the first round.
"Seattle is a great place," said McClenathan. "We've done very well there in the past and I look forward to returning there. The weather's been off and on there, but one thing about Pacific Raceways is that you have all those trees and you get a lot of oxygen, which helps produce more power in the engines, and we also get back down to sea level. And that's good for this FRAM dragster. I think crew chief Mike Green and the guys will do a great job there."