Pre Race – BRISTOL, Tenn. – Terry McMillen drove his Amalie Oil Top Fuel dragster to his third consecutive first round win last Sunday in Englishtown. McMillen hopes his team can continue and improve on this short streak that has placed him within NHRA’s Top 10 for the first time in his career.
Is a Round One win automatic for the team now?
“We’ll never take anything for granted,” McMillen said. “We’ve got four round wins for a career and three of those over the last three weeks. There are teams out here that get that in a weekend. We’re just trying to keep that ‘any given Sunday’ mentality. If we stay consistent, maybe we can string a few round wins together and find ourselves in a final round before the year is over.”
Richard Hartman on a string of 3.90 runs and trying to catch the pack running 3.80’s –
“The car is running like a bracket car right now. We’re just in the wrong bracket.”
McMillen on being in the Top 10 –
“I have to be honest, it was one of our goals to be in the Top 10 when the regular season was over. Then we lost nine straight opening rounds and we were just happy to be qualifying. At least for this week, we’re in the Top 10. I look up and down the nitro pits and see a lot of big name teams and to be amoung the Top 10 of them – even if for a week – it’s an honor. We’re going to print out the standings on NHRA.com this week and frame it. We’re going to work extra hard to keep Amalie there going into Indy.”
On Bristol Dragway –
“We haven’t been to all the tracks yet, but this one has to rate amoung the top five. You’re surrounded by these beatuiful Tennessee hills, tucked right in this valley with the grandstands towering over the track. It just looks like a fast track. Bruton Smith has proved he knows how to build a beautiful facility and Bristol Motor Speedway and Dragway are certainly no different.”
On World Cup
“I know they play with a round ball and there a bunch of guys kicking each other in the shins. Oh, and they don’t score much.”
McMillen comes into Bristol with a narrow eight point lead over 11th place Grubnic. The Amalie Oil team trails ninth place Torrence by just 34 points or less than two round wins.
ESPN2 coverage of the NHRA Thunder Nationals will begin on Saturday 06/19 with qualifying from 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM ET
Coverage of eliminations is scheduled for 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM ET
