BROWNSBURG, Ind. (September 4, 2017) – It’s been an eight year journey for Terry McMillen. A goal and a dream that the Elkhart, Indiana resident can finally claim – making the NHRA Countdown to the Championship. His AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel team earned the eighth spot with six races remaining.
McMillen can often be heard telling anyone who’ll listen that ‘persistence outweighs resistance’. Meant to encourage those around him, some would often wonder if it wasn’t meant to assure himself of the reason to push forward in one of the most challenging motorsports for an independent team. Today, McMillen proved that persistence outweighed resistance and logged his name in the history of NHRA Drag Racing.
“We’re not done,” McMillen said. “We came here to get into the top 10 and we came here to win a race. I can’t thank everyone who’s helped keep this dream alive. Amalie Motor Oil and Flatout Gaskets have been with us from the beginning, plus Ross Pistons, Mahle, Allstar Performance and Genius Tools. Everyone of our partners played a big part in reaching this goal.”
McMillen’s team also earned the fan vote and won the lottery style drawing for the Traxxas Nitro Shootout for the second year in a row. This year McMillen made the most of it by defeating Antron Brown in the opening round with a 3.77 to Brown’s 3.80. McMillen posted a 3.76 in round two of the Traxxas Nitro Shootout, but that wouldn’t be enough to outrun Tony Schumacher’s 3.74.
“I think it’s import for everyone to acknowledge the work that Rob Wendland has done to get our team this chance,” McMillen explains. “He’s taken a group of young men and women and is quickly turning them into seasoned veterans.”
The first stop in the NHRA playoffs starts at the zMAX Dragway near Charlotte, North Carolina, September 15-18.
