ATLANTA – Terry McMillen made his first career NHRA start at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals in Atlanta this weekend. It was McMillen’s first attempt as a driver / owner and second attempt overall.
McMillen took his Torco powered, Amalie Oil Top Fuel team through the paces and posted a 4.74 elapsed time at 315 MPH to secure the 15th position for Sunday’s race which paired McMillen against Rod Fuller in the rain delayed first round.
When racing resumed McMillen took the tree first, staged and attempted to take an advantage of Fuller when the light turned green. Unfortunately for McMillen his attempt for an NHRA round win ended early when he left the starting line 0.043 seconds early.
Noakes climbs to fourth after tough outing in Rockingham
ELKHART, Ind. — The Hoosier Thunder Motorsports, Amalie Oil InstiGator Funny Car team left Rockingham collectively scratching their heads. The team clawed its way into the fourth position after the second event of the Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series despite failing to make the call for Sunday eliminations.
“It’s going to be a tough season in Alcohol Funny Car,” team owner Terry McMillen said. “If these first two events are any indication – everyone should be prepared for a heavy weight battle.”
The team experienced a catastrophic engine failure that left them unable to make repairs at the track. “Blocks are hard to come by right now,” McMillen added. “We did everything we could to buy one from anyone that would listen, but no one really had anything that they were willing to part with.”
While the weekend ended rough, the early reports looked good for the InstiGator team. Ontario based driver Paul Noakes was optimistic at first. “It started out just the way we wanted it to go,” Noakes said. “We made some big strides and it looked like the performance had picked up.”
Amalie Oil Top Fuel Dragster makes NHRA debute in Atlanta
ATLANTA (April 23, 2008) – When Terry McMillen rolls his Torco powered, Amalie Oil Top Fuel Dragster out of the transporter for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals this afternoon, it will be the first time for McMillen as a team owner and driver. The team adds Ole Country Smokehouse of Anderson, South Carolina as an associate sponsor for the race.
McMillen made his NHRA Top Fuel debut last season. McMillen will strive to qualify and earn his first round win.
“We’re excited about being in Atlanta,” McMillen said as his truck entered Atlanta Dragway. “We planned on running several of the NHRA races this season – Atlanta wasn’t really one of them, but our crew chief John Smith has done a great job of getting a handle on this car and getting our crew to gel in a short amount of time. We’ve got 10 laps on this new chassis and combination and John already has us in the .60’s.”
First round loss doesn’t disappoint McMillen
ROCKINGHAM, N.C. – When Terry McMillen began loading the Amalie Oil Top Fuel Dragster into the team transporter after Sunday’s first round loss, he wasn’t as disappointed as one would expect.
“We’re always here to win,” McMillen said. “We just put our tenth run on this car and we had a couple of passes in the .60’s, so I’m actually pretty excited about how well our team is performing and how quickly John [crew-chief John Smith] is getting a handle on this car.”
McMillen’s 4.678 elapsed time at 313.37 MPH was only good enough for the fifth spot after qualifying ended. “It’s never been easy qualifying,” McMillen said. “Especially now with more and more quality teams being added to the mix. It’s tough enough facing guys like Bruce Litton and Bobby Lagana. Now we have to be conscience of guys like Palmer, Strasburg, Jones and that new kid ‘what’s his name’,” McMillen joked. “Spencer [Massey] is making the most out of that new license of his, notching two wins in two tries. It’s a dog fight early here in Top Fuel and I expect it will be that way all season long.”
InstiGator looking for more bite
‘No more Mr. Nice Gator’
ROCKINGHAM, NC (April 17, 2008) — The Amalie Oil InstiGator Funny Car, powered by Torco Race Fuels, makes its way to the IHRA Spring Nationals in Rockingham this weekend looking to put a little more bite on its opponents when qualifying begins tomorrow.
While the team did well at the season opening race in San Antonio, (qualifying in the fifth position) the opening round match up with eventual event winner Laurie Cannister ended their chances early for a win.
While the Hoosier Thunder Motorsports team car sports a new crew, crew chief and driver, team owner McMillen is confident this will be the best year ever for the team’s signature ride. “I have all the confidence in the world with Les Mellows tuning and Paul Noakes driving that car,” McMillen said.
The car has long been associate with Amalie Oil and has been a friendly draw for fans of all ages. This season the team went back to an original concept drawing of the car and Michelle Barkett of the Amalie Oil marketing department had Gonzalo Jarmillo redesign the InstiGator to give it a slightly ‘meaner’ look with more realistic teeth and eyes. This prompted the team to adopt the slogan ‘No more Mr. Nice Gator’, not only for the new look but also for the new attitude towards getting the fan favorite to the winner’s circle for the first time.
Les Mellows is confident the InstiGator can be a dominant force in the class.
Round two for McMillen’s Top Fuel Crew
ROCKINGHAM, NC. (April 17, 2008) — After a successful season opening race that found the Amalie Oil Top Fuel dragster in the final round, Terry McMillen and his crew roll into Rockingham with high expectations when qualifying begins this Friday, April 18th, for the second stop on the Nitro Jam Drag Racing series. Like a heavy weight fight, this is just round two of a scheduled 11 round bout.
“I’m very happy with how San Antonio turned out,” McMillen said as he unloaded his car in sunny Rockingham. “Certainly we would have loved to win the race. But with a everything being new on this car and no chance to test it before getting to San Antonio, I think John Smith (crew chief) and my guys did an outstanding job. It was better than I had hoped for.”
The Smith led crew put McMillen in the final round with an opportunity for his third carreer win in Top Fuel. Looking forward to this weekend’s Rockingham race McMillen finds himself optimistic.
“Our guys worked through a lot to get us to the final round. I think we grew a little tighter as a team through all of that. It’s going to get tougher from here on out. There’s a lot of racing left to do and a lot of good teams that will be fighting all year long for a chance at a world championship. I believe we have an opportunity to be one of those teams fighting in the end if we stay on our toes.”
McMillen makes final round appearance in Texas
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (April 10, 2008) – The Amalie Oil Top Fuel Dragster, powered by Torco Race Fuels and driven by Terry McMillen, made its Nitro Jam debut during the season opening event hosted at the San Antonio Raceway. The newly assembled team, led by crew chef John Smith, made the most of their opportunities, finishing the event with a final round appearance. A broken throttle cable would end McMillen’s hopes of capturing his third career Iron Man.
“We can’t be disappointed,” McMillen said after the race. “I would have loved to been in the winners circle at an Amalie race to collect a trophy, but this was a great weekend for our team. We had basically a brand new car and a brand new crew. These guys worked hard and did a great job to get us to the final round.”
While John Smith was disappointed with the finish, he felt the weekend was a success. He spoke with CompetitionPlus.com shortly after the race. “That was really the first mistake [throttle cable] that we made all weekend so we put a good effort up for Terry, Amalie Oil and NAPA Auto Parts,†Smith added. “Terry has worked really hard to put the deal together. We made it to the final round so it was a pretty good weekend all in all. We’ve got a good baseline. All the guys were working well together and little things like this will happen. You win as a team and you lose as a team so that’s what it’s about.”
McMillen ends double duty season optimistic
ELKHART, Ind. – Terry McMillen pulled double duty during the 2007 Knoll-Gas Motorsports Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series driving both the Amalie Oil InstiGator Funny Car and the Evan Knoll backed Torco Nitro Top Fuel Dragster owned by Doug Foley and Tim Lewis.
McMillen’s double effort marks the first time in IHRA professional drag racing history that someone was competed in two classes and finsihed in the top 10 of the points standings. McMillen finished Top Fuel in 5th and Alcohol Funny Car 6th in points. McMillen’s teams saw improvement all season long with constant progress being made with the Funny Car and two event wins in Top Fuel (Edmonton and Toronto).
“It was an exciting year,” McMillen said. “We learned a lot of things that will help us be even more competitive in the 2008 season. I think you’re going to see a lot of exciting things coming out of the Hoosier Thunder Motorsports camp. The new season starts today. We’ll have a lot of exciting announcements in the next few months that set the tone for our team in ’08.”
Near miss for McMillen at NHRA debut
RICHMOND, Va. – Terry McMillen, driver of the Foley & Lewis, Torco Nitro Top Fuel Dragster narrowly missed making the field at the 2nd annual Torco Race Fuels NHRA Nationals. After the final qualifying session, McMillen was disappointed but optimistic about his team.
“We learned a lot this weekend,” McMillen said as they loaded the dragster into the transporter. “We know that we’re close to running the number we need to make the show anywhere we go.”
McMillen entered Saturday’s qualifying rounds in the 10th provisional position, knowing that he’d have to step up performance to make the field. Saturday’s first pass put McMillen next to defending NHRA World Champion Tony Schumacher. McMillen would run side by side with Schumacher falling slightly off pace at the top end of the track as the car pitched the blower belt.
McMillen makes NHRA debut at Torco Race Fuels Nationals
ELKHART, Ind. – Terry McMillen, driver of the Foley/Lewis Torco Nitro Top Fuel Dragster backed by Evan Knoll, will make his NHRA debut this week at the Torco Race Fuels NHRA Nationals October 5-7. The race held at Virginia Motorsports Park is one that McMillen has been looking forward to all year long.
“We circled these dates on our calander right away,” McMillen said. “Evan Knoll does so much for drag racing and this is one of the many events that he sponsors, so we wanted to be here to support him and to get some Top Fuel NHRA experience.”
“I’m lucky enough to work along side of Evan at Torco,” McMillen continued. “He’s really a great guy to work with. When it comes to racing, no one does it better. He gives us the best tools to work with and now this opportunity to race with the best of the best. It’s pretty exciting.”
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 21
- 22
- 23
- 24
- 25
- …
- 29
- Next Page »