The 2008 IHRA Division 4 Pro-Am Tour made its first stop at San Antonio Raceway on March 14-16, 2008, and Alesi & Ayrton Gerthe of New Breed Racing were excited to officially get this season started.
Alesi and Ayrton competed in Quick Rod, an 8.90 Index class. Ayrton made his debut and is doing really well adjusting to the many different things about his move to a full size dragster. Although he ended each day after first round, the knowledge he gained will prepare him for upcoming races.
Alesi is much more comfortable this year in her dragster and on Saturday she went out first round, but on Saturday went out second round.
Next stop for the team is the upcoming Amalie Oil Texas Nationals at San Antonio Raceway, April 3-6, 2008.
March Madness for Hoosier Thunder
Some might think about ‘March Madness’ as a term associated with college basketball. Well, for Hoosier Thunder Motorsports is the last minute mad dash to get ready for San Antonio.
In just six days the big rigs will be pulling out of Elkhart and heading towards Texas. But it’s never too late to add to the good news.
Late last week the London Free Press (London, Ontario) did a story on Paul Noakes and Les Mellows joining Hoosier Thunder (I guess that’s the “I” in IHRA – for International.). You can read the story here – Drag Racer realizes dream. Jim Cressman did a nice article on those guys.
NAPA Auto Parts opens store on IHRA Midway
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – NAPA Auto Parts, presenting sponsor of the Amalie Oil Texas Nationals (April 4-6), will expand its race presence when it opens shop on the IHRA midway for the upcoming national event. NAPA will be on the midway with a fan friendly display and they will also provide support to the professional and sportsman racers competing at the event. For racers who want to “Get the Good Stuff” – life just got a little easier.
McMillen makes move to put Amalie Oil InstiGator in winner’s circle
Mellows and Noakes join Hoosier Thunder Motorsports
ELKHART, Ind. – Terry McMillen, Hoosier Thunder Motorsports team owner announced changes today to his long-time ride, the Amalie Oil InstiGator Funny Car, powered by Torco Race Fuels. McMillen will turn over tuning and driving duties on the Amalie Oil InstiGator to concentrate on the Amalie Oil Top Fuel Dragster. The move will strengthen both the Top Fuel and Funny Car teams.
McMillen will rely on the championship tuning abilities of veteran Les Mellows while driving duties will rest on the shoulders of Paul Noakes. Both Mellows and Noakes reside in Ontario.
“Last season I drove both the Top Fuel and Funny Car,” McMillen explained. “Last season the Top Fuel car was owned by Foley and Lewis and this season it will be out of the Hoosier Thunder stable. We’re excited about having two top professional cars on our team. I’m confident that Les and Paul can take that car to the next level and represent Amalie and all of our associate sponsors well.”
McMillen drove the Amalie Oil InstiGator for seven seasons with a career best third place finish in 2004. The winner’s circle eluded McMillen until last season, when he captured his first Iron Man behind the wheel of his Top Fuel Dragster. “It’s a hard decision to take yourself out of the drivers seat,” McMillen said. “But Amalie deserves the best on both of these cars. I can’t think of anything that would make me happier than to have both cars in the winner’s circle before the season is over.”
Flatout Gaskets and Crane Cams continue partnership with Hoosier Thunder Motorsports
ELKHART, Ind. – Terry McMillen, team owner of the Amalie Oil InstiGator Funny Car and the owner/driver of the Amalie Oil Top Fuel Dragster powered by Torco Race Fuels announced today that Flatout Gaskets and Crane Cams renewed their partnership with the team. Both Flatout and Crane Cams have partnered with McMillen’s funny car team for years and now add McMillen’s top fuel team for the 2008 racing season.
Flatout offers a solid line of high performance gaskets, specializing in Copper Cylinder Head Gaskets and the only maker of Rubber Coated Copper gaskets(RCC). Flatout offers a full line of exhaust, intake, valve cover and oil pan gaskets.
“Mark Adelizzi is a friend to race teams,” McMillen said. “Flatout Gaskets’ have worked flawlessly on our funny car team and now adding quality Flatout Gaskets to our top fuel program will give us the advantage we need to win races.”
Season Starts for New Breed Racing
New Breed Racing’s Alesi and Ayrton Gerthe kicked off the 2008 season at San Antonio Raceway’s Big Money Kick-Off Classic held February 22-24, 2008.
Ayrton began his licensing upgrade on Friday evening and completed the required runs on Sunday to become an IHRA Quick Rod driver.
“I was excited about getting my quick rod license last weekend, but the race was cancelled, so I had to do it this weekend. It was an exhilarating experience and I hope that many wins will follow later on in the year,” said Ayrton.
Alesi went out second round on Saturday going .498 red and went out third round on Sunday when her car unexpectedly picked up several numbers.
“I’m thrilled that Ayrton got his quick rod license because he has been looking forward to it for quite some time. He improved with every pass he made and I was very impressed with how well he did. It was great to get back into my car after what seemed like a long winter. My main focus coming into the weekend was to cut consistent lights and get ready for the upcoming divisionals. We had a minor car problem second round on Sunday, but luckily I had some great people help me out and we think we know what the problem is,” commented Alesi.
The team will compete next at the IHRA Division 4 Summit Pro-Am Tour at San Antonio Raceway on March 14-16, 2008.
Here I am – King of Horsepower!
You have to love this new commercial for the season opening Knoll Gas Nitro Jam event. The Amalie Oil Texas Nationals is getting very close – about 5 weeks until the smell of nitro and VHT in the morning… I digress…
The best part about the new commercial? The opening shot features the Gator himself, T-Mac strapped in to his 330MPH rocket ship. Plus the voice over is great – “Here I am – king of horsepower. Here I am maker of speed. I AM horsepower and this is my home.”
Clevite and Perfect Circle provide bearings and piston rings for McMillen Top Fuel entry
ELKHART, Ind. – Hoosier Thunder Motorsports announced today that the Amalie Oil / Torco Nitro Top Fuel dragster, driven by team owner Terry McMillen, will be outfitted with MAHLE Clevite bearings and Perfect Circle piston rings for the 2008 racing season. Clevite and Perfect Circle will be major associate product sponsors.
“Talk about lucky stars lining up,” McMillen smiled. “In early December I received a phone call from IHRA’s “Texas Tornado” – Tommy Dupree. When Tommy told me that Jack Wyatt (Nitro Funny Car driver) and I had won the MAHLE Clevite / Perfect Circle Nitro Club program sponsorship, I was stunned! MAHLE Clevite and Perfect Circle provide phenomenal parts for the racing industry.”
McMillen is excited about being a part of their program for the 2008 racing season. He sees the product sponsorship as a major advantage for his new team. “I have been working with Doug Foley and Tim Lewis on purchasing the car I drove last year. This is the best gift for someone starting a Top Fuel team. We could only wish for an opportunity to work with a company that has the reputation of Clevite and Perfect Circle,” McMillen added.
McMillen goes “LIVE” on Real Racing USA with Staging Stevie Letempt
ELKHART, Ind. — Oh, Baby… Help me, help me, help me. I need YOU to the staging lanes!
The sound of those words will ring clear in your mind if you’ve ever been to an IHRA race and had the privilege of listening to Staging Stevie Letempt call “play-by-play” for Sportsman Racing. No one does it with more enthusiasm than Steve Letempt.
Putting Staging Steve and the “Gator Man” Terry McMillen on the same radio show this Wednesday night at 8PM EST is something the world may not be ready for yet.
“I would imagine there will be a lot of energy on that show,” McMillen says with a smile. “The first one to take a breath will lose.”
Amalie Oil expands partnership with Terry McMillen
TAMPA — In a press conference earlier today, Andrew Bornstein, Amalie Oil Business Development Manager, announced that Amalie Motor Oil will renew and expand its relationship with Terry McMillen and the Hoosier Thunder Motorsports drag racing team based in Elkhart, Ind. Amalie will continue its primary sponsorship of the Amalie Oil InstiGator Funny Car and become the major associate sponsor of the Amalie Oil Top Fuel Dragster. The team is scheduled to compete in all 11 IHRA races.
The news comes on the heels of yesterday’s announcement that Amalie renewed its relationship with the IHRA, retaining title sponsorship of the Amalie Oil Texas Nationals (San Antonio April 4-6) and the Amalie Oil North American Nationals (Epping, N.H. September 5-7)in a multi-year agreement that will also keep Amalie as the Official Motor Oil of the IHRA.
“We look closely at the sponsor reports every year,” Bornstein said. “The return on investment that Terry provides with his marketing program far outweighs our expectations. Our District Managers and distributors believe strongly in this program. It only makes sense for us to not only renew, but expand our relationship with Terry and Hoosier Thunder Motorsports.”
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