Topeka -- Cory McClenathan was one day away from pulling out the year 2000 daily planner and mapping his plans for drag racing in the new millennium.
Quite literally, the Anaheim, Calif., racer -- one of the most consistent challengers for the NHRA Winston Top Fuel championship -- was going to throw in the towel on the 1999 campaign.
Things just weren't clicking for his Joe Gibbs-owned MBNA team.
And then it happened. He won the U.S. Nationals.
In an instant, McClenathan, who had struggled through much of the season, put his name back in the hat as a candidate for one of the most competitive Top Fuel title chases in NHRA history.
He hopes to move closer to his championship goal with a Top Fuel victory at the 11th annual Advance Auto Parts NHRA Nationals Thursday through Sunday at Heartland Park Topeka.
McClenathan is the defending Top Fuel winner at the $1.7 million race, the 18th of 22 events in the $40 million NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series.
"Some people were starting to talk about us not being in contention for the championship for the first time in a while," said McClenathan, who sits seventh in the standings, only 126 points out of first. "Well, I guess we proved them wrong. There's 20 rounds of racing left and anything can happen. We've got to take it one round at a time and make the most of our opportunities."
If there's one competitor in the Top Fuel category who could write a book on how NHRA championship points are gained, it's McClenathan. He's finished a distant second in the Winston point standings four times during his career, including the last two seasons.
Many felt 1999 would finally be his year to claim the title. However, a slow start left his team without much momentum. All that changed when he defeated young Andrew Cowin at Indianapolis.
"That may have been my most important U.S. Nationals win," said McClenathan, also a winner at Indy in 1996. "We were actually talking about beginning to work on plans for next year before we won. Winning at Indy changed everything."
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