Veteran Top Fuel driver Cory McClenathan, who has accomplished much during his highly-decorated NHRA racing career, still needs to check off two pesky items that stand out near the top of his drag racing bucket list.

If early season performance indicates anything, the Anaheim, Calif. native may be well on his way to crossing both off the list in 2010.

He’s called his FRAM dragster a “bracket car” for its incredible consistency early on this season. Crew chiefs Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler have mastered the tune-up and can dial up a 3.81 when needed almost at will. Factor in McClenathan’s years of driving experience, and the combination could produce a champion’s trophy by year’s end.

McClenathan opened the season as the No. 1 qualifier at the NHRA Winternationals, then posted a semifinal finish at the Southern California season-opener before claiming his 32nd career victory one week later in Phoenix.

He heads to historic Gainesville Raceway for the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals, March 11-14, as the Top Fuel points leader, a position he hopes to hang on to for the entire 10-month season. Larry Dixon (Top Fuel), Bob Tasca (Funny Car), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are the defending winners of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event, which will be televised on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD.

“Right now we’re the points leader and we’re going in there with the same attitude of, ‘Let’s qualify very well, let’s try to keep lane choice on race day, and try to put this FRAM car in the winner’s circle,’” McClenathan said. “The FRAM car is definitely the car to beat right now and I think people know that and they’re taking notice of it. Obviously our teammates’ cars, Tony’s (Schumacher) and Antron’s (Brown), are running well; Larry Dixon’s running good also; and Doug Kalitta, obviously.”

A woman died Sunday after being hit by a tire from a crashing dragster at the NHRA Arizona Nationals.

The woman was watching a first-round Top Fuel run at Firebird International Raceway when Antron Brown's Matco Tools/U.S. Army dragster went out of control on the strip and its left rear wheel came off.

Alia Maisonet, a spokeswoman for the Gila River Indian Community, said the woman was airlifted to a Phoenix-area hospital for treatment and later died. Gila River emergency responders were among the first to respond to the scene.

Maisonet said she didn't know the victim's name or hometown.

"The entire NHRA community is deeply saddened by today's incident and sends its thoughts and prayers to the woman's family and friends," the association said in an e-mailed statement.

Franki Buckman, the track's executive vice president, said Firebird International Raceway also is deeply saddened by the incident.

Brown was released by the track medical staff, but went to Chandler Regional Hospital for further observation, according to a statement put out by Don Schumacher Racing before the woman died. The NHRA said Brown wasn't injured.

"We're racers and we race and I'm ok," Brown said in the statement. "It all happened so quickly and I want to thank the NHRA Safety Safari for being there so quickly to help get me out of the car and also the track medical team for tending to me so quickly."

The racing continued after the accident, and John Force advanced to his second straight Funny Car final before the session was postponed because of rain. Force, the 60-year-old star who ended a 40-race winless streak last week with his record 127th victory, will meet Jack Beckman on Monday.

John Force Back atop qualifying in Arizona Nationals (NHRA MEDIA PHOTO)by NHRA Media
John Force continued to show that he’s back to his old form Saturday at the NHRA Arizona Nationals as the 14-time NHRA Funny Car world champion raced to his first No. 1 qualifying position in more than two years.

Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel) and Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) also earned No. 1 positions in their respective categories at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event. Due to rainy weather conditions throughout the day, NHRA officials were forced to cancel one of the two scheduled qualifying sessions.

The 60-year-old Force sped to a 4.063-second run at 308.78 mph in his Castrol GTX High-Mileage Ford Mustang to claim his 132nd No. 1 of his career, seventh at Firebird International Raceway and his first since Sept. 2006. He will meet arch-rival Cruz Pedregon, a two-time series champ, in the opening round of Sunday’s 11 a.m. (MT) eliminations.
“It feels great considering the last few years have been kind of tough,” Force said. “We shook up our teams a little bit with [crew chiefs] Mike Neff, Austin [Coil], and Bernie [Fedderly], and I’ve got the new Eric Medlen chassis built by Ford Motor Co. and John Medlen and the Boss 500. I’ve finally got an all-Ford car and I’m still getting her down the lane, so I’m pretty excited.”

Force was a little surprised that he was able to move past Matt Hagan’s leading effort from Friday. Hagan’s 4.068 at a track record speed of 311.34 in his DieHard Dodge Charger held on to the second spot in the 16-car starting order.

Doug Kalitta leads day one at the Arizona NHRA Nationals - NHRA Media Photoby Phil Burgess, National DRAGSTER Editor
Doug Kalitta, Matt Hagan, and Mike Edwards are the low qualifiers halfway through qualifying at the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird Int’l Raceway outside of Phoenix.

The event is the second of 23 events in the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and comes just a week after the spectacular season-opening 50th anniversary Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif.

Teams had to quickly regroup and make the six-hour drive across the state line to set up for the unprecedented back-to-back event launch of the season. Teams will get two more qualifying shots Saturday, with final eliminations scheduled for Sunday.

Winternationals runner-up Kalitta grabbed the No. 1 qualifying spot from the man who beat him in Pomona, event champ Larry Dixon, who led after the first session, supplanting Dixon’s 3.837 with a 3.825 to take the No. 1 spot. Kalitta’s last No. 1 qualifying effort occurred at the 2006 NHRA Finals.

John Force talks about winning the 50th Annual Winternationals in Dennis Krause's Motorsports Minute

CHANDLER, Ariz. – NHRA Funny Car legend John Force’s Castrol GTX High-Mileage Ford Mustang can cover a dragstrip’s race distance in a little over four seconds at more than 300 mph. However, that isn’t the performance that the 14-time world champion is most proud of.