Terry McMillen Racing

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McMillen teams up with ATG Intelligent Glove Solutions

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BROWNSBURG, Ind. (May 28, 2019) – Terry McMillen, team owner and driver of the AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel team announced today a partnership with ATGⓇ Intelligent Glove Solutions. The deal will make ATG’s MaxiFlexⓇ Glove the official glove of Terry McMillen Racing.

“Drag racers, specifically Top Fuel teams, put gloves to the ultimate test as we rebuild these motors often and in tough conditions every weekend,” McMillen said. “These gloves are extremely comfortable and highly durable and our team trusts their most important tool — their hands — with these gloves to get the job done.”

“ATG is excited to team up with Terry McMillen Racing for the next three seasons,” said Kyle Browning, Director, Global Sales for ATG. “With a large percentage of the NHRA fan base involved in many of our major markets, specifically within the automotive and construction industries, we feel this will be an excellent platform for brand exposure of ATG® and our flagship product, MaxiFlex. We are really looking forward to supporting NHRA fan favorite Terry McMillen behind the wheel.”

Visit ATG to learn more about their full line of gloves at https://www.atg-glovesolutions.com/en

McMillen comes up short at Virginia Nationals

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photo © Roger Richards and CompetitionPlus.com

Richmond, Va. (May 19, 2019) – Terry McMillen and the AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel team fell to Billy Torrence in the opening round of the Virginia Nationals. The team rebounded from the DNQ in Atlanta, qualifying eighth for Sunday eliminations.

“We might have let one get away from us there,” McMillen said of the loss. “It was the hottest conditions we’ve seen so far this year and we just missed it a little. Summer was here this weekend. We’ll be ready for it in Chicago.”

One of the highlights of the weekend was a visit from YouTube star Stephen Sharer.  Sharer’s YouTube channel has over 6.5 million subscribers. “This guy is a rock star,” McMillen said. “We were honored to spend the day with him. He’s a genuine guy and kids of all ages were following him around to get autographs. He shot a bunch of footage of his time at the race, so we’re looking forward to seeing it on one of his upcoming vlogs.”

McMillen also has big plans for Memorial Day weekend and he’s hoping you’ll join him. The 2019 Lane Automotive Cruise-In and Car Show takes place Friday May 24 and Saturday May 25th and the AMALIE team will be there for the Cacklefest on Saturday. The car show is free for attendees. “We always mark this on our calendar and look forward to it,” McMillen said. “There are so may great hot-rods on display. There’s never enough time to see them all.”

McMillen makes final quad at Four-Wide Nationals

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CONCORD, NC. (April 28, 2019) – Terry McMillen and his AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ made the most of their trip to the Charlotte area when the team powered his Top Fuel Dragster to a final round appearance at the Four-Wide Nationals.

McMillen made consistent qualifying passes, of 3.728, 3.794 and 3.793, earning him the number three starting position. He would advance through the first and second rounds of eliminations, setting up the second final quad appearance of his career in a Four-Wide race.

“It felt good to get back to winning rounds today,” McMillen said. “We’ve had a really strong car all season and it hasn’t really shown up in the round win column as much as we wanted it to. So, today felt not as good as we wanted it to, but better.”

The strong qualifying effort, coupled with the round wins, moved McMillen from 10th in the point standings to eight, just eight points behind Antron Brown.

The team now heads to Commerce, Georgia fo continue the momentum they gained at this race. They’ll  compete in the Arby’s NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway, Friday, May 3, with eliminations on Sunday May 6.

McMillen roles snake eyes in first round at Las Vegas

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photo © Burghardt Photos and CompetitionPlus.com

LAS VEGAS (April 7, 2019) – ‘What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’, once a marketing slogan for the city, now something Terry McMillen hopes he can use to put this weekend’s race behind him.

McMillen, driver of the AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel Dragster was hoping for a little luck at the Vegas 4 Wide Nationals. The career best performances that McMillen has been experiencing this season hasn’t really been reflected in the race day results and it was something he wanted to improve on this race. However, for the third race this season, McMillen falls to Doug Kalitta on small hole shot.

Steve Torrence paced the 4 wide race with a 3.729 elapsed time as McMIllen and Kalitta chased him for the second car to advance. McMillen’s 0.069 reaction time with a 3.770 elapsed time was not enough to overcome Kalitta’s 0.051 reaction time at 3.780. Kalitta’s margin of victory was just 0.008 seconds.

“That was my fault,” a disappointed McMillen said after the race. “I used to think a .069 light was pretty good. Not anymore. We outran them and Doug beat me on the tree… again. I just have to get better. I let the team down and I let our marketing partners down.”

McMillen won’t have long to worry about that loss. The season continues next week at The NHRA SpringNationals at Houston Raceway Park,  April 12-14.

Tub O’ Towels joins Terry McMillen Racing

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Tub O' Towels Logo

Elkhart, Ind. (March 25, 2019) – Terry McMillen, team owner and driver of the AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel Dragster and Tub O’ Towels announced today that Tub O’ Towels is now the Official and only cleaning wipe of Terry McMillen Racing.

“We’ve been using Tub O’ Towels on our team for about a year now,” McMillen said. “We think these are the ultimate cleaning products for our team. The Heavy Duty Cleaning Wipes keep our crew clean and the Stainless Steel Wipes keep our trailer looking like new. Partnering with Tub O’ Towels makes perfect sense for our team. We couldn’t be more excited about our relationship with them.”

Ashley Szeremet, Director of Marketing for the Cleveland, Ohio based company agrees. “We’re excited to be sponsoring Terry McMillen Racing this season. Terry and his pit crew have been fans of Tub O’ Towels for a while and their enthusiasm for our products made this a natural partnership.”

McMillen’s partnership with Tub O’ Towels will benefit NHRA race fans as well as customers of Motorsports Guys, McMillen’s AMALIE Oil distribution company.  Sample packs of Tub O’ Towels will be added to the AMALIE Midway gift packs distributed on Nitro Alley at all NHRA races. Motorsports Guys will also add sample packs to every outgoing order of AMALIE and Wolf’s Head oil and lubricants.

Tub O’ Towels products are available at many auto parts stores, home improvement stores and online at TubOTowels.com.

Solid run for McMillen comes up short at AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals

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photo ©Roger Richards and CompetitionPlus.com

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (March 17, 2019) – If you drove a green gator themed Top Fuel car in Gainesville on St. Patrick’s Day you would expect the luck of the Irish to be on your side. It didn’t go that way for Terry McMillen and his AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel Dragster.

McMIllen would qualify solidly in the top half of the field for the third race in a row when he clocked a 3.743 elapsed time in the fourth session to place sixth in the 16 car field. The effort would pair McMillen with Doug Kalitta in the first round of the historic 50th anniversary of the race.

McMillen and Kalitta ran identical elapsed times of 3.749, with Kalitta nipping McMillen at the finish line by just 0.0226 seconds. It’s the second time this season that Kalitta has beaten McMillen on a hole shot.

“Doug just has our number right now,” McMillen said. “We’ve got a good car and a good team. This will sting for a little bit because it was such a big race, not just because of our sponsor, but this is the only time they’re going to run the 50th Gatornationals. We’ve got 21 more races, we’re going to get our chances.”

Overall it was a good week for McMillen. He continues to match his best performance numbers of his career and agreed to terms with AMALIE to extend his contract until 2023.

“I wish we could have stayed around longer today for the Barkett family and all of the employees and customers that were here today,” McMillen said. “We’re not giving up. One of these years I’m going to hand that Gatornational trophy to AMALIE and it will be the best day of my drag racing career.”

The next stop on the NHRA Mello Yello tour is the DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, April 5-7.

AMALIE Motor Oil renews sponsorship with McMillen

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Extends one of the longest sponsorships in motorsports history

Harry Barkett, President of AMALIE Oil Company and Terry McMillen, Owner of Terry McMillen Racing

TAMPA, Fla. (March 14, 2019) – AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil announced today that the company will extend its sponsorship of Terry McMillen and the AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel team through 2023. The extension encompasses a 23 year relationship.

“This has been an amazing relationship and we’ve always been proud to be part of the AMALIE Family,” said Terry McMillen. “We love representing the Barkett family and the employees and all of the AMALIE customers and partners. We’re looking forward to the next four years and beyond.”

“Just like AMALIE’s slogan the AMALIE/McMillen Sponsorship is Better than it has to be…,” said Harry Barkett, President of AMALIE Oil Company.

McMillen joins an exclusive club of drivers with multi-decade continuous sponsorships including; Kenny Bernstein (Budweiser 30 years), Richard Petty (STP 28 years), John Force (Castrol 15 years) and Dale Earnhardt, Sr. (GM 15 years). McMillen’s relationship with AMALIE is believed to be one of the longest, currently active, primary sponsorships in motorsports.

The extension couldn’t come at a better time for McMillen as he and his team prepare for this weekend’s 50th AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida. Besides featuring the fastest cars in motorsports, the event will also feature many of the legends of NHRA Drag Racing in the “Unfinished Business” tour as they match up on the track. Fans will get to see their favorite legends race again when “Big Daddy” Don Garlits faces Shirley Muldowney, “The Professor” Warren Johnson takes on Terry Vance, Kenny Bernstein squares off with Joe Amato and Don “The Snake” Prudhomme has a showdown with Ed “The Ace” McCulloch.

McMillen’s gator-themed racing team has experienced career best performances in the first two events of the year and he is expecting his performance to continue.

“Rob Wendland (Crew Chief) and this team have done a lot of work in the off season,” McMillen said. “We’re really seeing that hard work payoff at the track. We’ve set and reset our career best numbers at Pomona and Phoenix and with the conditions looking good here in Gainesville we’re expecting more of the same here. Rob’s still working on the tune-up, so we think there’s a lot more that we can accomplish. I can’t think of anything better right now that handing AMALIE that trophy on Sunday after we win the race.”

Professional qualifying starts Friday, March 15th at the historic Gainesville Raceway. For more information visit NHRA.com.

McMillen resets career best again in Phoenix

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photo © Richard Brady and CompetitionPlus.com

Chandler, Ariz. (February 24, 2019) – Terry McMillen and his AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel team did it again. They reset both ends of their career best (3.695 at 330.96MPH) and qualified second for the Arizona Nationals.

For the second time in as many races, McMillen’s Rob Wendland led team improved on their performance and gave McMillen the best starting spot in his 222 NHRA race career. McMillen held the top spot in qualifying until the last session. Billy Torrence would top McMillen by just 0.028 seconds when he posted a 3.667 elapsed time in the final qualifying session.

In eliminations, McMillen would face the same opponents as the previous race, starting off with a win against Richie Crampton in the first round with a 3.726 elapsed time. He would fall to Leah Pritchett in round two as the car lost traction before the 330ft cone. Pritchett fell to Billy Torrence in the final round.

“We didn’t go as far as we would have liked today,” McMillen said. “Our program is really solid. The car is responding to Rob’s (Wendland) setup. So right now we’re pretty happy. It’s a long season. We’ve got to be able to do this week in and week out. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us going into Gainesville. We’re excited as we’ve ever been to get there.”

McMillen hopes to better his finish from two years ago in Gainesville at the AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals where he appeared in his first final round and had a runner-up finish to Brittany Force.

“The AMALIE Motor Oil Gatornationals is a big race for us,” McMillen added. “Besides the fact that this our sponsors race, this is always a big race. It’s the east coast opener, it’s the 50th anniversary of the race, there’s going to be a lot going on. I can’t wait to get there.”

The 50th AMALIE Motor Oil Gatornationals is March 14-17. Tickets are still available at NHRA.com

McMillen heats up NHRA Winternationals with semi-final appearance

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Resets career best performance twice

photo © Roger Richards and CompetitionPlus.com

POMONA, Calif. (February 11, 2019) – Terry McMillen drove his AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel Dragster to a semi-final appearance in the season opening NHRA race, but that didn’t excite the Elkhart, Indiana driver and team owner.

He made six final round appearances in 2018 and won the prestigious U.S. Nationals. Even that may only provide passing excitement compared to the anticipation for what the 2019 season has in store for McMillen.

“Welcome to 2019,” McMillen said with a smile. “The odds were really stacked against us coming here and doing well. We built an in-house car, added four new crew members and didn’t get to test. We came here with the same motor that we ran in the NHRA Finals and had a great weekend. That’s nothing to hang our heads about.”

McMillen leaves Pomona third in points, his best start after the first of 24 races and that’s still not what excites McMillen.

“We got better every run,” McMillen said. “We’ve got a hotrod that can really compete this year.”

McMillen reset his career best elapsed time and mile per hour in the opening round match-up against Richie Crampton with a 3.710 at 329.10mph. He then reset it again in round two against Leah Pritchett when he posted a 3.696 at 329.91mph. He made another impressive run in the hole shot loss to Doug Kalitta, posting a 3.706 to Doug’s 3.708. Kalitta’s margin of victory was just 0.0113 seconds.

“I didn’t think I had a bad light,” McMillen explained. “Doug just had a better one. He took out me, Billy and Steve (Torrence) on hole shots. Doug earned that victory today.”

“The car was happy all weekend,” McMillen added. “Rob (Wendland) did a great job on our chassis. Now he has something he can work with. It’s responding to the changes he’s making. The best part of it all – we’re not even leaning on the motor. There’s a lot more left in it. A few tweaks here and there and we’ll be even more consistent.”

“When is Phoenix?” McMillen asked with a grin.

Race two of the season is the NHRA Arizona Nationals, February 22-24.

Terry McMillen Racing Teams Up with Downtown Grand Hotel and Casino

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Special rates, meet and greet, autographs and more included in room packages during upcoming nationals

LAS VEGAS – NHRA fans rejoice!! Terry McMillen, driver of the AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel dragster, is partnering with the Downtown Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on special room packages during the upcoming NHRA Denso Spark Plug 4 Wide Nationals, April 5 -7 and the NHRA Nevada Nationals, October 31 – November 3.

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