CONCORD, N.C. (April 30, 2018) – Terry McMillen backed up his Houston runner up finish last week by posting a final quad appearance at the NHRA Four Wide Nationals. The final quad appearance matched McMillen’s performance at the same event last season. After posting the fastest 330ft time in the finals, McMillen would begin to spin the tires and slow to a third place finish.

The AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel team also reset their career best mile per hour twice during qualifying and posted there best qualifying position of the season at #5.. His new career best is now 329.75 MPH. McMillen’s performance over the past two races have put him into eighth in the point standings, just 10 points from being tied for sixth.

“We’re in the hunt,” McMillen said after his second final round loss in a row. “If we keep putting ourselves in this position, sooner or later we have to start collecting some more hardware. The gator is chomping, we’re hungry. If we just keep doing what we’re doing, get a few rounds every race, we can really put ourselves in position to make a run at this Championship.”

Next week the team heads for the NHRA Southern Nationals at the Atlanta Dragway, May 4-6. “We learned a lot about greasy tracks these past two races,” McMillen said. “We’re going into Atlanta  expecting more or the same. I think Rob (Wendland, Crew Chief) has a good handle on that tuneup given the results we’ve seen these past two weeks. It’s time for us to gator-done”.

BAYTOWN, Tex. (April 22, 2018) – Terry McMillen and his AMALIE® Motor Oil XTERMIGATOR® Top Fuel team raced their way to the final round at the NHRA SpringNationals near Houston, Texas. McMillen’s quest for his second win ended when Brittany Force posted a 3.762 pass at 299.46 to McMillen’s 3.818 at 311.56.

McMillen returned to Houston and tamed the right lane that collected and destroyed his car just two years earlier. His trip to the final round saw every pass in the right lane. “It’s still a very tricky lane,” McMillen said. “The car gets down there and wants to bounce around a lot. Normally I’d say there’s nothing about that I like, but it was good for us today. Rob (Wendland, Crew Chief) figured out how to finesse this hotrod down through there.”

“It was a great weekend for us,” McMillen said. “It didn’t end the way we wanted, but I’d take Rob and this crew into battle against anyone.”

“We were trying to do a little better in the final round,” McMillen said. “We’ve still got a tricky clutch disc we’re trying to get a better handle on.”

It was McMillen’s fourth career final round appearance and his third in the past 14 races. “I think we’re really starting to see how well this team has come together,” McMillen said. “We’re out here and just about every other team out here is either a multi-car team or aligned with someone or another. I’m super proud of our team and we’re getting more and more confident that we can hang with any of them on any given Sunday.”

McMillen and team now head to Charlotte for the second Four- Wide event of the year at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals April 28-30.

LAS VEGAS (April 8, 2018) – After earning his first NHRA win last October in Las Vegas, Terry McMillen and his AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ team had high hopes for a repeat this weekend at the Spring event. However the team fell short in the opening round of the first 4-Wide race at The Strip at Las Vegas.

“We’re getting better, we’re just not where we want to be right now,” a disappointed McMillen said after his first round loss. “We missed a great opportunity today to make a move up the points ladder, it just didn’t work out the we had planned.”

McMillen remains tenth in points after the fourth race of the season. “We just had a few small gremlins that kept us chasing our tails a little bit this weekend,” McMillen continued.

Although the race didn’t turn out how McMillen had hoped, he was impressed with many things. “If you look at this weekend, I think it was a big success for everyone involved with the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series,” McMillen said. “There were sell out crowds on both Saturday and Sunday. Bruton Smith and the staff at the drag strip did an outstanding job in preparing the inaugural 4-Wide event. The track was amazing. I think it was much better than any of us had expected. We have to say thanks to them, the NHRA and the fans for all of the support, It was a great weekend in that aspect.”

McMillen and team are looking forward to their next opportunity to race April 20-22 at the NHRA Spring Nationals in Houston, Texas

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (March 19, 2018) – Terry McMillen and his AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel team, led by crew chief Rob Wendland, reset their career best mile per hour for the second time this season at 328.46MPH. The annual east coast opener for NHRA also saw McMillen and team earn another career first; bonus points for quickest elapsed times in back-to back session when they posted the third and second quickest times of the third and fourth qualifying sessions.

McMillen qualified eighth for Sunday eliminations and went on to defeat Scott Palmer in a close opening round match-up with a 3.763e.t. to Palmer’s 3.777e.t. With McMillen’s starting line advantage the margin of victory (MOV) was 0.0315 seconds. McMillen’s opening round run not only reset his career best MPH but was also the third fastest winning elapsed time of the opening round – giving McMillen lane choice over his friendly rival Clay Millican for the round two match up. Millican posted a 3.758 to McMillen’s losing effort of 3.831. The losing elapsed time was forth fastest of the second round.

“Rob (Wendland) and I talked about it going into round two,” McMillen said. We thought a 3.79 or 3.80 would win it that round. The sun came out and it was getting pretty greasy out there. The pair in front of us had just smoked the tires in both lanes, so we wanted to make sure we could get down through there. Dave Grubnic (Millican’s crew chief) took a shot at it and made it stick – they just kicked our butts. There’s not a lot we can do except take our hats off to them and go back out there and get them next time. If we rolled the cars back up there again we wouldn’t have done anything different.”

“It was really a good weekend for us,” McMillen continued. “We proved we can be a top three or four car pretty much every session. We’re going to keep picking away at it and keep getting better and win another one of these races.”

With the round win, McMillen moved back into the tenth spot in the point standings and is four points ahead of where he was after Gainesville last season.

“There’s a lot of season left and a lot of rounds left to be raced,” McMillen said. “We’re not going away. This gator is going to keep chomping.”

The 2018 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season continues with the DENSO Spark Plug NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway April 6-8 in Las Vegas.

POMONA, Calif. (February 11, 2018) – Terry McMillen and his AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ team didn’t get off to the start they had hoped for, but it doesn’t dampen McMillen’s outlook for the rest of the NHRA season.

“It certainly wasn’t the outcome we were looking for,” McMillen said of his first round lost to Tony Schumacher at the NHRA Winternationals. “We had a mishap in Q4 that put us a little behind going into eliminations. Our early numbers were a little soft but our back half incremental numbers were probably our best ever. I’ve got a lot of confidence in this team and I can’t wait to get to Phoenix.”

McMillen’s third qualifying pass of 3.727e.t. narrowly missed matching his career best elapsed time (3.723) and broke his previous MPH when he tripped the beams at 328.09MPH (previously 327.19MPH at Epping).

In the fourth qualifying attempt a broken wrist pin cost McMillen an engine and blower, sending the team into eliminations with an untested blower. He still posted a 3.752 elapsed time at 328.06MPH – again surpassing his 2017 best speed..

“We’ve got a great hotrod,” McMillen continued. “We can’t wait to get back out there and make some noise and be in the middle of the championship hunt.”

The next stop on the NHRA Mello Yello tour is the NHRA Arizona Nationals, Febuary 23-25.

POMONA, Cailf. (November 12, 2017) – Riding the momentum of an NHRA national event win in Las Vegas, Terry McMillen, driver of the AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel Dragster had high hopes for a strong finish at the season’s final event in Pomona. While he came up short in Pomona, he did not come up short on reaching goals for the 2017 NHRA season.

“It’s hard to be disappointed today,” McMillen said after his close opening round loss to Richie Crampton. McMillen posted a 3.769 elapsed time to Crampton’s 3.724. “We’re really starting to run well and gel as a team. So, that’s a reason to not want the season to end. On the other hand we’re excited about the season ending because we hit our two main objectives of winning a race and making the Top 10. Now we can reset our goals, get everyone back to even in points and go after this thing again in a few short months.”

McMillen’s season was filled with career best stats. Here are just a few:

• Reset career elapsed time 3.723 Epping, New Hampshire
• Reset career speed 327.19 mph Epping, New Hampshire
• Most round wins in a season – 14 (prior 3 season he had 16 combined)
• First career win – Las Vegas
• Oldest 1st time winner in NHRA history
• Two final rounds (Seattle and Las Vegas)

Other highlights of the 2017 season include:

• Qualified for all 24 events
• Remained in Top 10 for entire season
• Compiled a 14-23 record – career best .378 win percentage
• Career best average starting position – 9.6 (previous 12.2)

“We accomplished something this year that a lot of people thought a single car team couldn’t do anymore,” McMillen added. “This has been an outstanding year for the NHRA and fans to see Clay Millican’s team and our team get our first wins. I think it’s really good for the fans and the sports that we could prove that anyone can still win on any given race day. I know that we all shed a lot of tears about it. I think we have a formula to keep the independent teams out here competitively. That’s doesn’t mean it will be easy. We have great support from our marketing partners that continue to believe in us and support us and we thank them and the fans that are diligent with their words of encouragement and support.”

“What is it,” McMillen asked “Ninety or 92 days until we’re back out here for the Winternationals? Whatever it is, it won’t be long and you can bet we’ll be ready to go to war all over again.”

ENNIS, Texas (October 15, 2017) – Terry McMillen and the AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ team fell to Brittany Force in the opening round of the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals. It was a close race that saw McMillen leave first and then run his best pass of the weekend. However, even with the starting line advantage of .023, his 3.754 was not enough to hold off Force’s 3.708.

“On one hand it’s really disappointing to lose like this,” McMillen said after the race. “I’m really proud of this team. They’re really coming together and giving us the chances we need to be competitive out here. I can’t wait to get to Vegas.”

Crew Chief, Rob Wendland added, “We’ve just got the first round blues right now. We’re running pretty good right now, we just need to run a little better.”

McMillen and team head for Las Vegas to compete in the 23rd stop on the NHRA. With just two races remaining in the season McMillen is still fighting to make a difference in The Countdown. “We want to get a round win in the playoffs and we’re still searching for our first race win,” McMillen said. “I think we have the team and the car to do that. We’ve just got to do now.”

McMillen and team will start race week in Las Vegas at a car and driver display at Tahiti Village on Wednesday, October 25th from 11:00AM-1:00PM. Tahiti Village is located at 7200 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, Nevada. Race fans and the public are invited for a chance to win tickets to the race.

MADISON, Ill. (October 1, 2017) – Terry McMillen remains eighth in points after an opening round loss to Antron Brown. Terry and his AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel team qualified 11th with a solid 3.74 elapsed time. The team’s first round effort appeared to be even better in the opening round. His incremental times matched closely with Brown’s before hazing the tires at half track.

“We were just going out there to be aggressive,” McMillen said. “We’ve got nothing to lose. We want to make a move and we wanted to start now. We had a new tire on there and didn’t have lane choice and we went a little too far over the edge. I can’t tell you the last time we smoked the tires that far down the track. We’re racing in the Countdown. We’re not going to be shy on race day.”

McMillen continued, “I believe we have a combination now. Rob (Wendland, Crew Chief) has a few more tricks up his sleeve, a minor quick fix here or there. We’ll be ready for Dallas. We’ve worked hard to get here and we have three races left to mixed it up with these guys.”

The next stop for the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing tour is the AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas October 12-15. Tickets are still available at NHRA.com.

MOHNTON, Pa. (September 24, 2017) – Terry McMillen and his AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel team remain winless after the second Countdown race concluded, but McMillen remains determined to make a difference. His team remains eighth in points with four races remaining.

“We didn’t really get want we wanted today,” McMillen said. “We were the fastest loser in round one. I’m pretty sure that doesn’t get you anything. However, we were the only team in round one to get down that lane and that’s a testament to the hard work that Rob Wendland (crew chief) and this team put into this race.”

McMillen continued, “We’re continuing to work hard and learn new things about this car everyday. We want to improve in every aspect of our racing program. Once we start qualifying a little better on Friday night sessions I think you’ll see this team take it to the next level.”

“I’m excited about some of the changes Rob has made this weekend,” McMillen explained. “I can’t wait to get to St. Louis next week.”

Next up for the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing series is the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park in St. Louis on Sept. 29-Oct. 1.