BRAINERD, Minn. (August 18, 2019) – Terry McMillen and his AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel team didn’t accomplish what they set out to do in Minnesota, but the defending U.S. Nationals Champion has a plan to stay in the Countdown with one race remaining.

“We changed a couple of components to help us get more consistent,” McMillen explained after his first round loss to Doug Kalitta. “We’re just going to have to link our wounds after this loss and come back with a combination that we can make a run at this with. The right lane was a little tricky early after the rain the night before. We just missed it. It is what it is.”

McMillen still holds a slight lead for the tenth spot in the Countdown, just seven points over Scott Palmer and 41 points over Billy Torrence. Point values at the U.S. Nationals are worth 1.5 more than normal.

“We’re headed for Indy for some Thursday testing.” McMillen said. “There’s never a margin for error in drag racing. The U.S. Nationals will just prove it that much more.”

KENT, Wash. (August 4, 2019) – Terry McMillen and the AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ team struggled through the first part of the Western Swing, but hopefully have found the consistency needed to hold on for a spot in the NHRA Countdown. McMillen earned five bonus points over the past two races, yet failed to notch a round win.

“It’s the best weekend we’ve had in a long time,” McMillen said of the recent Northwest Nationals held just outside of Seattle. McMillen remains in the Top 10, six points ahead of Scott Palmer and 66 points ahead of Billy Torrence.

“It’s tight right now for the last spot,” McMillen continued. “I have to be looking over my shoulder at Scott and Billy, but at the same time I’m looking forward at Prock and Crampton. We’ve been here before. I can tell you this, we’re going to go down swinging.” Austin Prock and Richie Crampton are tied for the eight spot, 77 points ahead of McMillen.

McMillen earned two bonus points in the first qualifying session in Sonoma and then earned an additional three points with the quickest elapsed time of the third session in Seattle.

“Every point counts,” McMillen said. “We just came up short on race day. Consistency is the key down the stretch. If we can keep making consistent runs and keep improving, we’ll be right where we need to be when the Countdown starts.”

Two races remain before the Countdown. The next is the Brainerd, Minnesota, August 15-18 and the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis August 28 – September 2 where McMillen will defend his U.S. Nationals title.

NORWALK, Ohio (June 23, 2019) – Terry McMillen, driver of the AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel dragster posted the low elapsed time of eliminations in his first round win over Austin Prock. The win moves McMillen to ninth in the points standings and just eight points from Richie Crampton. McMillen would turn on the red light in his round two match up with veteran Pat Dakin.

“That was a pretty stout run,” McMillen said of his first round win. “We made up some ground (in the points standings), so that was good. We’re getting back where we need to be.”

“That second round loss was all me,” McMillen said of his rare red light start. “In the second round the track was getting tricky. I’m not sure it was going to make it, but I didn’t give us a chance. It happens, that’s racing. Our mind is already focused on Epping.”

McMillen qualified sixth for the event, his third highest start of the season. “Overall it was a good weekend,” McMillen said. “We got to meet a lot of people from Tub O’ Towels and it was great to see their excitement for NHRA Drag Racing.”

The NHRA New England Nationals will be July 5th – July 7th at the New England Dragway in Epping, New Hampshire.

BRISTOL, Tenn (June 16, 2019) — For the sixth time this season, Terry McMillen and his AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ team qualified in the top half of the field for an NHRA race. McMillen and his Rob Wendland led team posted a 3.795 elapsed time in the second qualifying session to secure their position. The cooler (yet still hot) Bristol conditions allowed for aggressive performances on Friday night and back to finessing the tuneup on Saturday and Sunday.

McMillen would face RIchie Crampton in the opening round of eliminations. A solid 0.055 reaction time and some skillful driving would give McMillen his first round win since Charlotte, ending his four race drought.

“We needed that,” McMillen said of the round win. “It was a good morale booster for the team. The car got out there and dropped a couple of holes and made for an interesting ride, but I’m glad we were able to hold on for the win.”

In the second round, McMillen would face Crampton teammate Doug Kalitta. McMillen would leave again first with an 0.026 light and looked to be on the path to a sure win as Kalitta smoked the tires at the hit. Suddenly near half track, McMillen’s car would start to drop cylinders causing the pan pressure switch to shut the car off. Once Kalitta saw that he pedaled the car and was able to run down McMillen at the finish line as all McMillen could do was coast to the loss.

“That was a tough one,” McMillen said. “There wasn’t much I could do at that point. I could see the finish line right in front of me and I could hear Doug coming on strong.”

“We want to build on this going into Norwalk and get stronger as we head towards the countdown.”

The next race is the final race of the ‘back to back’ four race Eastern Swing. Tickets are still available for the Norwalk, Ohio race June 20-23.

ELKHART, Ind. (May 29, 2019) — During the 2nd annual Virginia NHRA Nationals Terry McMillen Racing hosted YouTube star Stephen Sharer, introducing the social media personality to the sights and sounds of NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing. McMillen, driver of the AMALIE® Motor Oil XTERMIGATOR®, became familiar with Sharer through his son Cam’s interest in the Sharer’s wildly popular family-friendly videos online. 

Sharer recently posted his adventures and experiences on his YouTube channel which has over 6.5 million subscribers. The video follows Sharer as he absorbs a Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event for the first time and includes behind the scenes and on-track highlights from McMillen’s Amalie Motor Oil Top Fuel team as well as other sights and sounds in the pits. The video can be viewed here: Stephen Sharer Experiences NHRA Virginia Nationals

“Watching the Top Fuel dragsters was an exhilarating experience unlike any other,” said Sharer of his day at the NHRA races. “I had an epic day supporting team McMillen and experiencing the family-friendly fun. I can’t wait to come back next year!”

This is the second time a member of the Sharer family has experienced the excitement of NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing. Last year McMillen Racing hosted Stephen’s younger brother Carter and sister Lizzy, also YouTube stars in their own right, at the Inaugural Virginia NHRA Nationals. The videos chronicling Carter’s and Lizzy’s adventures with McMillen’s son Cam garnered millions of views.

“We had a blast introducing Stephen to NHRA drag racing and our Amalie Motor Oil Top Fuel team. I became part of the Sharer Fam when Cameron subscribed to Stephen’s YouTube channel, and now that Stephen has been to the races we consider him part of the Amalie Family,” said McMillen. “It was amazing to see Stephen interact with other drivers and the fans in Virginia. He had no idea what he was going to see and he was blown away by everything. I am thrilled we were able to introduce Stephen and his brother Carter plus their millions of fans to a sport that my whole family loves.”

Stephen Sharer is part of the SHARER FAM. Together, Stephen, his brother Carter as well as his sisters Lizzy and Grace, and their dog Otter create crazy adventures, #Vlogs, and overall epic videos. Stephen’s goal is to provide his fans with awesome, family friendly videos.

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.

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.

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.

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