Epping, NH – The 10th Annual Amalie Oil North American Nationals lived up to the title sponsors company slogan. The event was “Better Than It Has To Be” resetting world records in each of the professional drag racing categories.
Terry McMillen and his Amalie Oil InstiGator Funny Car, powered by TORCO Racing Fuels, would not be out done, setting new personal best ET (5.825) and MPH (241.97) during the qualifying session. McMillen qualified the InstiGator #5 in the fastest Funny Car field in IHRA history. “This was tough weekend for the guy that has to rewrite the record books,” explained McMillen. “But, it was a great weekend for Amalie, their distributors and friends.”
McMillen continued his starting line dominance in eliminations with a 0.028 reaction time to nail 2 time IHRA Champion Rob Atchison to the tree, taking the round 
win and advancing to the semi-finals for a show down with Jim Sickles.
McMillen took a 0.033 starting line advantage in his race with Sickles (0.012 VS 0.045), but it wouldn’t be enough to upset the Caledonia, NY native who would go on to win the event in a showdown with 5 time IHRA Champion Mark Thomas. “Congratulations to Jim (Sickles) and his team,” said McMillen. “They threw 5.70s on that track and reset the mile per hour record book every time they rolled up to the tree. It was their weekend.”
While McMillen and his InstiGator team fell short of their goal to bring home the Iron Man for Amalie, the team leaves New England optimistic. “We’re excited about the improvement we saw for our team,” said Brent “Skinny” Lidgard, co-crew chief. Co-crew chief, Tad “TV” Heflick agreed, “With a new personal best under our belt, we’ve got something to work with for the next couple of races.”
“I’ve got the best sponsors and crew in the business,” said McMillen. “These guys worked together to fight through our summer slump. We couldn’t have done it without dedicated sponsors like Amalie Oil, TORCO RaceFuels, Flatout Gaskets, NGK Spark Plugs, MSD, Performance Graphics, Powershield Coatings and Crane Cams.”
McMillen also spent the week meeting Amalie Oil distributors and signing autographs at area retail outlets. Andrew Bornstein, Amalie Motor Oil Business Development Manager, added, “This is our 10th season of involvement with this race. It gets better every year.”
SPEED TV added an in-car camera to the InstiGator during the final round of qualifying and for the elimination rounds. “I had a chance to get a ‘sneak peak’ at the footage,” said McMillen. “Anyone that wants to see what a Funny Car driver has to do to get down a drag strip should tune in! SPEED does a great job of getting fans into the race so they can get an idea of what it’s like.” The original broadcast for the event is scheduled for Saturday, 12/31/2005 at 5PM ET.
If it “ROCKS BOSTON” it must be Lyndon Byers (LB). LB, former Boston Bruin standout, and the WAAF 107.3 crew spent Saturday “Partying In The Pits” with the InstiGator team. The Boston radio station broadcasted live from the pits, interviewed McMillen and hosted a cookout for lucky listeners from their week long promotion.
Not to be out done, Greg and The Morning Buzz (100.3 WHEB) continued their banter with 
McMillen Saturday atop the timing tower. McMillen appeared in studio with show on Friday and followed up with Saturday’s live broadcast that featured one cast member (Laura) attempting a live interview while sitting in the car during a warm up. “We always have a lot of fun with these guys,” added McMillen.
The next stop for McMillen and the InstiGator team is the 14th Annual, TORCO Race Fuels President’s Cup Nationals, September 23-25, 2005 in Budds Creek, MD, just outside of Baltimore.
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