NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

It’s been more than a dozen years since Cory McClenathan has won a national event – he scored 34 of them in a decorated career in Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Fuel before the funding game took him out of the saddle – but the always popular Southern Californian showed in Pomona that he still has the winning knack by taking home the Legends Funny Car title over an eight-car field of Nostalgia Funny Cars at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals.

The Legends Nitro Funny Cars were presented by Modern Warriors, a Utah-based premier tactical company.

At the wheel of the Rick Akers-owned Firebird, painted in McClenathan’s trademark blue and black-and-white checkered Mac Attack colors and tuned by nitro veteran Glenn Mikres, the 60-year-old vet defeated Bill Windham on a first-round holeshot then took down Billy Morris and Tim Boychuk for the win.

The win was a huge moment for the team, which had to skip the season-opening Good Vibrations March Meet after a Mikres family emergency, so they came into the event with an untested car and still won the day.

In 2023, Legends Nitro Funny Cars will host a nine-race series, where a champion will be awarded at the conclusion of the NHRA Nevada Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Oct. 26-29. Legends Nitro Funny Cars points will be allocated during six NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series events and at three NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series events where the class will be featured.