DENVER, Colo. – Terry McMillen and his Amalie Oil / UNOH / All Star Performance Top Fuel Dragster made the most out of the first stop on the Western Swing. McMillen’s team continued to show improvement, qualifying in the top 12 on Friday and improving their qualifying time on Saturday to stay in the eleventh spot for Sunday eliminations.
McMillen faced Bob Vandergriff in first round action, but fell short of a round win in a close 4.03 to 4.06 drag race. “It’s tough up here on the hill,” McMillen said. “But we kept Bob (Vandergriff) honest. We’re going down the track now so these other teams have to know we’re not going to just give away rounds anymore.”
While the high altitude of Denver can make it difficult to judge performance, McMillen is encouraged for the fourth race in a row. “We made some of our best earlier runs (incremental times on the first eight mile of the track) of the year,” McMillen said. “I can’t wait to get back to sea level conditions in Sonoma to see if those early numbers hold. If they do I think we’ll have a hot rod to be reckoned with.”
McMillen by the Numbers
- 85
Number of guests and customers from La Salle Oil in La Salle, Colo. – Amalie’s first distributor in Colorado. - 9,960
Adjusted elevation for the third session of qualiifying - 2 for 4
The first round match up with Vandergriff was the fourth time that McMillen and Vandergriff met in eliminations. Vandergriff’s win even’s the score at two wins each.
