McClenathan – who qualified deep in the field – got through to the final round against top qualifier, Andrew Cowin and in a pedalfest got the job done with a 5.66 second pass against Cowin’s 9.83.
The weekend represented a strong return for Cowin – who has been on the sidelines for some time.
The category that sparked fans’ interest though was Top Doorslammer – John Zappia chimed in during qualifying with a 5.77 second pass. It looked to be a regulation pass for the West Aussie in the new look Striker Crushing and Machining Monaro, however it headed the quickest Doorslammer field in Australian history.
Zappia wasn’t able to break through for victory though, that went to Peter Kapiris who scorched down the track in a 5.80 second pass at 256.02mph (412kph) over a 5.84 for West Aussie, Robin Judd.
Steve Reed had the Top Alcohol title in his safe-keeping – scoring a big win over Gary Phillips in the Final. He was later disqualified for crossing the centreline during his 5.62 second pass.
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Maurice Allen took out the Pro Stock Motorcycle Nationals crown when he was gifted a solo run in the final when Phil Howard failed to fire.
In Pro Stock, Michael Ali was the greatest, driving around Jason Hedges to take a debut win, meantime Chris Mathieson’s run of success in the nitro Top Bike category continued, edging out Mark Drew with a 6.39 to 7.64 second pass.
The win for McClenathan comes after a personally troubled season – he was left on the sidelines in the USA after finishing third in the Championship in 2010. He has since hooked up with Australian car owner, Santo Rapisarda and the pair are planning an expanded assault on the NHRA scene in 2012.
