Terry McMillen Racing

You are here: Home / Archives for Jim

McMillen looks for improvement in Atlanta

By

DSA_4359.JPG

ATLANTA – Terry McMillen and his Amalie Oil / Wolverine Boots and Apparel Top Fuel Dragster will make their fourth career NHRA start at this weekend’s Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals. McMillen and his Elkhart Indiana based team is still is search of its first round win.

“I’ve got to be honest,” McMillen said as he and his team set up their pit area for the race. “We’ve been disappointed with our performance so far this season. It’s not that we’ve been that bad – it just hasn’t been that good. We expect more from ourselves.”

[Read more…]

New Top Fuel t-shirt design

By

McMillenT_Final.jpg

Terry McMillen’s new Top Fuel t-shirts have completed the design phase and everyone is pretty excited about the new look. 

The shirts feature the Amalie Oil / Wolverine Top Fuel Dragster driven by Terry in NHRA and IHRA competition.

The shirt was designed by Fast Eddie Racewear. It also features the logos of drag racing’s finest companies that support the Hoosier Thunder team.

These handsome charcoal shirts are available in kids sizes (small and medium) and adult sizes small – 2 XL. You can pre-order your Terry McMillen Top Fuel Dragster t-shirt by visiting AmalieStore.com.

These shirts are expected to ship no later than June 4th.

Terry’s twittering catches up to him – and other Gatornationals notes

By

Terry’s third attempt at qualifying for an NHRA event was another success. The Amalie Oil / Wolverine Boots & Apparel dragster improved with each attempt (16th in 2008 Atalanta, 13th in 2008 Vegas and 12th in 2009 Gainesville). Now if the team could just scratch out a round win or two everyone would be happier.

“We changed everything on this car,” McMillen said. “We’ve got a few more bugs to work out, but I’m confident Kuch will have us among the front runners before too long.”

The 40th annual Gatornationals was the first for McMillen as a driver and Florida Gator fans loved the Amalie gator-themed hot rod. Not only was the car a hit, but team jerseys were popular also.

“We almost needed a police escort,” McMillen laughed. “People we offering to buy our crew jerseys – and they kept raising the ante. It was tempting to consider, but we’ve got some people working on a special jersey for the fans. Plus, we were out of hero cards on Saturday. Gainesville is a madhouse of great drag racing fans. I can’t wait until next year.”

Sun_photo.jpgMcMillen’s car was also featured on the front page of Thursday’s edition of the Gainesville Sun. The caption for the large photo read “Charlie Matero and Austin Lambright work on the Amalie Oil-Wolverine top fuel dragster Wednesday in preparation for this weekend’s Gatornationals.” The article continued on page 6 with another large photo inside the transporter.

Phil Burgess is the editor of National Dragster – the NHRA house publication. He keeps a notebook from each event and mentioned Terry in it along with others.

Here’s an excerpt:

…Back to Twitter for a moment. It has been interesting to see some of the NHRA race teams that are early adopters of the tool, including John Force Racing, Kalitta Motorsports, and Terry McMillen.


Force publicist Elon Werner is far and away the most prolific tweeter out there, sharing the latest snippets about the progress of the four Force drivers, links to articles about them, and more. Werner also was instrumental in the Twitter live chat that Ashley Force Hood took part in Friday on the FordRacing Twitter page.


Werner also was behind an interesting stunt at the track. He sent out a tweet to all of his followers (more than 900!) telling them to meet at the Force Racing compound in an hour. An hour later, he sent out another tweet looking for any of the followers who had caught his earlier message on their cell phones. Melissa Waterman shot up her hand first, and, as a reward, the Rhode Island resident, on her first trip to Gainesville Raceway, earned a personal visit with Ashley.

McMillen, who qualified for Top Fuel, tried a similar experiment from his Amalie Oil pit but didn’t give any advance warning. He just tweeted that the first two followers to come to his pit would receive a stuffed alligator, the team mascot. Both were gone within a few minutes. “I love it,” said McMillen. “It really goes to show you the power of the new technology.”


You can read the entire story at NHRA.com here (http://www.nhra.com/blog/dragster-insider/)

Plus check out the new Photo Gallery – 2009 Gatornationals Photo Gallery

McMillen brings gator-themed dragster to NHRA Gator Nationals

By

Edited_GatorIMG_3997.jpgTerry McMillen will make his ACDelco NHRA Gator Nationals debut this weekend in his Amalie Oil / Wolverine Boots and Apparel Top Fuel Dragster. The team affectionately calls the car the ‘Nitro Gator’ because of the large gator head, water and gator skin that adorns the 300 mile per hour dragster.

McMillen chuckled and asked, “Would it be an understatement to think there might be a few folks from the Gainesville area that would cheer for a gator car? Maybe we’ll find a couple of extra fans just based on that.”

While McMillen hopes Florida Gator fans like his car, the real reason for the reptilian look is Tampa based Amalie Oil. “Amalie has used the gator theme for a long time,” McMillen explains. “We’ve raced my Alcohol Funny Car for years as the InstiGator and last season we dressed up this dragster to look like a gator. It certainly makes it a car that’s a little easier to remember.”

[Read more…]

Fun at Mardi Gras Nationals ends early for McMillen

By

Baton_Rouge_IMG_4016.jpgBATON ROUGE, La. – The Amalie Oil / Wolverine Top Fuel Dragster’s day ended early at the Inaugural IHRA Mardi Gras Nationals. McMillen started hazing the tires as Bobby Lagana, Jr. drove around for the win. Lagana would go on to lose to Bruce
Litton in the finals.
“It didn’t turn out like we planned,” McMillen said after the race. “It wasn’t from lack of effort. Just about everything on this car is new and we’ve still got a couple of issues to work on.”
The weekend started off promising as McMillen drove his dragster on two consistent qualifying runs on Friday night (4.89 @ 301mph) and Saturday afternoon (4.86 @ 305mph) kept the team qualified in the top half of the field at #4.
“The fans were great,” McMillen said. “They packed the place and hung around all day asking questions and cheering us on. Plus the track put on a big Crawfish Boil and my guys appreciated that a lot.”
Hoosier Thunder Motorsports partners with high-quality and high-performance companies like: Amalie Oil, Jet Label & Tape, Auto Meter, Mahle Clevite, Perfect Circle, Flatout Gaskets, Impact Racing, NGK Spark Plugs, MSD, Permatex, ieGraphics, Holbrook Performance Parts, Global Power Systems, Paradise RV & Coach, Ringers Gloves and Wolverine Boots.

McMillen adds Wolverine Boots as Associate Sponsor

By

wolverine_logo.gifELKHART, Ind. – When the Amalie Oil Top Fuel Dragster rolls into the staging beams this season it will do so with the support and partnership of Wolverine Boots and Apparel. American workers have counted on Wolverine brand for over 125 years, McMillen’s team will do the same in 2009.
“Wolverine has the slogan “Relentless by Nature”,” McMillen said. “I think that says a lot about the tenacity of their company. Plus it’s a good fit for our team. All of our guys are pretty relentless also.”
The Rockford, Michigan based company has been an American Icon for over 125 years and is known for setting the standards for durable footwear. Wolverine is a leader in creating innovative comfort technologies in its work footwear such as DuraShocks® and Wolverine Contour Welt® and more recently has introduced patented comfort technologies into hunting and rugged outdoor styles.

[Read more…]

Alesi Gerthe applies for Project Podium Grant

By

Alesi_Gerthe_Tulsa2.jpg

Rockdale, TX – New Breed Racing’s Alesi Gerthe recently submitted her application for consideration as a recipient of the Lyn St. James Women in the Winners Circle Foundation Project Podium Grant.

The nineteen year old college student applied for the Project Podium Grant, which goals are to ‘provide financial assistance in the form of matching grants to young women drivers to help further their early professional careers, introduce or further provide experience for young drivers related to the very important business aspect of the racing industry, increase the number of women winning races and championships in key categories of motorsports, and create a diverse talent pool of women drivers in the upper echelon of motorsports.

[Read more…]

McMillen has high expectations – Sets targets for season ahead

By

DSA_7096.JPGELKHART, Ind. – After completing his first season as Top Fuel team owner and driver, Terry McMillen has set his sights even higher for the 2009 racing season. McMillen was two for two in NHRA starts last year (Atlanta / Las Vegas), including a spot in the fastest 1000ft field in NHRA history at the fall Vegas event. McMillen’s NHRA season will begin at the Gator Nationals in Gainesville, Florida.

IHRA success also came often for McMillen and his Amalie Oil sponsored machine. With four final rounds in a row (five total) and one win, McMillen is planning to hit the ground running again this season when they pull in to Baton Rouge for the IHRA season opener.

“We’ve worked harder and spent more money this off-season than we ever have before,” McMillen said from his Indiana race shop. “We’ve never been more prepared to begin a season than we are right now.”

McMillen hopes his off-season spending spree will pay big dividends. Besides the usual parts and pieces required to make a Top Fuel Dragster go fast, McMillen made a significant off-season acquisition in veteran tuner Doug Kuch. Kuch, who stepped in mid-season last year as consultant, will tune the Amalie Oil entry during the 2009 campaign.

“Doug is one of the top tuners in this business and we’re lucky to have him,” McMillen said. “I wish we had one of those big, go-fast budgets so we can turn Doug loose and let him show what he can really do. But, he’s proved that he can work with a tight budget like we have. He’ll give us an opportunity to win every time we’re out there.”

McMillen also added Glen Camp as car chef to his already strong team.

The Hoosier Thunder Motorsports team has also put together one of the more unique motorsports marketing plans. Instead of racing for a championship, McMillen will target specific markets for partners to give them a maximum return on their investment.

“Let’s face it,” McMillen said. “This is a tough economy and we’re extremely blessed to have Amalie Oil as a primary sponsor on our dragster. This season we’ll race more races, but in markets that make the most sense for our partners.”

This outside of the box approach has proved to be McMillen’s first win of the season. “We spent the off-season talking to our partners and all them thought a target market approach would be the best benefit.”

“We may not be running for a championship in the traditional sense. Our championship will be making certain that our partners get a better return on investment than they expected.”

McMillen renews partnerships – sets sights on 2009 season

By

ELKHART, Ind.  — For those that have had the privilege of attending a drag race and  roamed the professional pits – they know there’s nothing like the whine of a starter turning over an 8,000 horsepower Nitro motor just before warm up. It puts a hop in your step and a tingle in your spine. Such is the case for McMillen and his crew as they thrash to get their motors and new parts ready for the 2009 campaign.

McMillen hasn’t announced his schedule, but he hears the motor tuning over now. “We’re trying to put the finishing touches on a couple of really cool new opportunities with our partners before we announce our schedule, but we didn’t want to wait any longer to announce some of our long time partners that will be with us again this season.”

In an off season that has kept McMillen busier than usual, he’s confident his Amalie Oil sponsored Top Fuel Dragster will be more competitive than ever. Veteran tuner, Doug Kuch consulted the team to 5 final round appearances, 2 wins and position in the NHRA’s fastest field in Las Vegas last season. He will be the teams crew-chief for the entire 2009 campaign.

“Doug is one of the top tuners in this sport,” McMillen said. “We’re really lucky to have him on our side.” McMillen is also excited about the return of his crew. “We’ve got a group of guys that are dedicated and hard working. They’re some of the best in the business. We have one of the most relaxed atmosphere’s in drag racing. We work hard. But our guys all like each other and get along. It makes the grind of a season that much better when you like the guys you work with.”

[Read more…]

After successful 2008, McMillen plans more races in 2009

By

ELKHART, Ind. – After completing the best season of his drag racing career, Terry McMillen, driver of the Amalie Oil Top Fuel Dragster, is making plans for an even bigger 2009 season. McMillen made five final round appearances with two wins in IHRA competition in route to a third place finish in championship points. He also competed and qualified in two NHRA events, including the 13th spot in the fastest field in NHRA 1,000 foot history during the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals.
“We’ve been blessed with some of the best partners in the business,” McMillen said from his Indiana race shop. “It’s no secret that this is probably the toughest economy that most people have faced in their lifetime. It’s been tough on racers, race teams and on families all over the world. Our partners have remained solid through this down period and we’re focused on helping them grow even more during 2009.”

[Read more…]