SONOMA, Calif. (July 31, 2016) – After a frustrating outing in Denver, Terry McMillen driver of the AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel dragster found a little hope in a first round loss to defending NHRA World Champion, Antron Brown. McMillen posted a 3.819 e.t. at 315 miles per hour to Brown’s 3.715 e.t. at 324 mile per hour.

“You know this weekend started out a whole lot better than Denver,” McMillen said of his solid baseline qualifying run in the first round of qualifications on Friday. “It got a little rough in the middle, but this Amalie crew kept their heads down and stayed after and it and it showed in the first round today. I’m real proud of all of them.”

The turning point for McMillen came in the form of rough outings in the third and fourth rounds of qualifying. A dropped valve in the third round caused a backfire into the blower, destroying what was thought to be the team’s best blower. “We just had that new blower on the dyno and it was suppose to be a lot better than our ‘Franken-blower’,” McMillen said.

The “Franken-blower” is in reference to Frankenstein and a blower that crew chief Rob Wendland tweaked and worked on to piece together from other blowers that had met similar fates and a new case from Darren Mayer at DMPE. While the ‘Franken-blower’ didn’t dyno as well, it did perform better in racing conditions.

“It’s really hard to imagine that you can go out there a run a 4.28 and put a piston in the pan and then say, O.K. we’ve got this,” Rob Wendland said after the team’s fourth and final qualifying attempt. “But that’s kind of how we felt when we saw the performance of that blower.”

“Our plan is to just put this car in the box and take it out of the box with the same tuneup in Seattle,” Wendland continued. “If we can run those same numbers in Seattle we’ll have something to work with.”

“We’re 33 points out of this thing (The Countdown) with just three races to go,” McMillen explained. “We’re chasing the latest addition to the Schumacher stable and I can’t think of anytime that a Schumacher car hasn’t been in the Top 10. We’ve got our work cut out for us and we’re hoping that 2016 is the first time a Schumacher car doesn’t make the Top 10 because that means we finally conquered our goal to crack the Top 10 for the Countdown.”

Qualifying for Seattle starts next Friday with live elimination coverage on FOX next Sunday.

MORRISON, Colo. (July 24, 2016) – The NHRA Mile High Nationals wasn’t kind to Terry McMillen, driver of the AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel Dragster and his team this weekend. The opening round loss to Brittany Force only amplified McMillen’s frustration in his quest to get his team into the Countdown. He remains less than two rounds behind the coveted 10th spot with just four races remaining.

“The weekend started wrong for us and just kept getting tougher from there,” McMillen said. When the team arrived Thursday they found their transporters sinking into the asphalt, in danger of tipping. They spent most of Thursday re-leveling the trucks with the help of the Denver Fire Department, the NHRA and Bandimere Track personnel.

“The track officials and the NHRA were very considerate and helpful in trying to get us a safe environment to work from,” McMillen said. “It was just an unfortunate circumstance that started us out on the wrong foot and it never really got any better from there.”

In the rain delayed first round of qualifying McMillen’s troubles continued. “The throttle hung open on the burnout and I couldn’t get the car to stop. I finally just had to shut it off”, McMillen explained. The team sat out the late second qualifying session in hopes of finding and eliminating any more issues.

In the final qualifying session, McMillen and crew thought they had a run going that would better their qualifying position. “We were a little slow at the step,” McMillen explained. “Then the car really started to get after it. Then it picked up the front end about 500 feet and when it got about two or three feet off the ground and drifting towards the center line, I thought it might be a good idea to lift.”

“I just told our guys we were going to have to treat Denver like Vegas,” McMillen said. “What happens here, stays here. Lets leave all this here, head back to sea-level conditions and fight our way back into the top 10.”

The next race is in Sonoma, California with qualifying on Friday and Saturday July 29 and 30th. Sunday’s eliminations will be broadcast live on FOX television network.

JOLIET, Ill. (July 10, 2016) – Terry McMillen, driver of the AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel Dragster, picked up a round win at the Route 66 Raceway this weekend. The first round win against Shawn Langdon helped him get back on track in the chase for the tenth spot in The Countdown.

After a promising start to the 2016 season, McMillen has seen his share of struggling since Epping. “We’re finally starting to see a little light at the end of the tunnel,“ McMillen said. “We thought we were chasing an ignition issue and we think we finally found the issue in the clutch department. We just got into a new batch of clutch discs that weren’t playing friendly with our other batch. It’s just one of those struggles of a single car team that we’ll continue to fight through.”

With just five races before the cut-off for The Countdown, McMillen trails Leah Pritchett by 30 points. “We’ve been here a few years ago against David Grubnic, “ McMillen said of a points chase that left him nine points shy of his first Countdown. “We know what we have to do and the next few races are going to be exciting for us as we fight our way back into this hunt.”

The next stop for McMillen on the NHRA tour is Denver, the first race of the Western Swing and the first to be televised live on FOX. “Start to finish live coverage on FOX is something we’re really excited about,” McMillen said. “I think it may be one of the greatest things that has happened to our sport in a long time. It will be great for our sponsors, fans and soon to be fans that watch us on FOX this summer.”

Qualifying for Denver begins Friday July 22 with live coverage on FOX beginning Sunday July 24th at 3:00PM ET.

NORWALK, Ohio (June 26, 2015) – A frustrating weekend culminated in a first round loss for Terry McMillen and his AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel team.

“We worked really hard and we thought we had it figured out,” McMillen said. “Obviously we still have some work to do. We’re going to get all of our stuff back to Indy and go over it again with a fine tooth comb. We’ve got a week to work on our plan, I’m confident that Rob (Wendland, Crew Chief) has a plan for Chicago. We’re going to make some laps in Brownsburg this week and work on some things.”

“I was pretty down about losing another round in the Top 10 chase this weekend, but Rob reminded me there’s a lot of racing to be done between now and the U.S. Nationals. I wish we could have done better for everyone here in Norwalk,” McMillen continued. “We’ve got a lot of history here; way back to the IHRA days. It was great to catch up with old friends and talk about AMALIE Oil and relive some of those old matchups.

The next stop for McMillen is the Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Joliet, Illinois, July 7-10.

BRISTOL, Tenn. (June 19, 2016) – Struggles continued for Terry McMillen and his AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ at Bristol Dragway during the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals this weekend. While the results didn’t make McMillen happy, he does find hope in his first round loss to Shawn Langdon.

“We’ve gone over this car with a fine tooth comb,” McMillen explained. “We’re running so close to the edge we just wanted to make small changes and one thing at a time until we got to the bottom of it. We think we’ve found our issue and Norwalk will be a much better race for us.”

McMillen remains in striking distance of the Top 10, trailing Leah Pritchett by just five points. Professional qualifying for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio begins Friday June 24.

EPPING, N.H. (June 6, 2016) – When the NHRA eliminations were rescheduled for Monday due to persistent rain, Terry McMillen, driver of the AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel dragster hoped his luck would change when the sun came out on Monday. That wouldn’t be the case as McMillen fell to Doug Kalitta in the opening round match-up.

“I love New England,” McMillen said. “It was great visiting with all the long-time AMALIE customers that are in this area and sharing some “Lobstah” and old stories. I just wish we could have gone a little deeper in eliminations for all the loyal fans that showed up on Monday.”

After a career best start to the 2016 season, with round wins in each of the first three races, including a Gainesville final round appearance, the loss here in Epping continues a dry spell for McMillen. Leah Pritchett’s opening round win knocked McMillen outside of the Top 10 for the first time this season.

“We’re going to have to fight our way back into this,” McMillen said. “We still have lots of determination and we’re not afraid of hard work or adversity. Tomorrow is another day and we’re ready for the fight.”

The next stop of the four race eastern swing is Englishtown, New Jersey where McMillen made a semi-final appearance last year.

TOPEKA, Kan. (May 22, 2016) – The Rob Wendland tuned AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel Dragster reset Terry McMillen’s best elapsed time with a 3.762 in the second round of qualifying. McMillen’s previous best was a 3.806 set at the Pomona Winternationals in 2014.

“Rob (Wendland, Crew Chief) and the crew have been working really hard at getting us into the .70s,” McMillen said. “I think the most impressive part about it is that Rob was able to do it on a new car in just the seventh pass. We’ve got a good baseline now. It’s something we should be able to build on for the rest of the season.”

McMillen would qualify tenth and face Clay Millican in opening round action. While the team was hopeful of a positive outcome, they would fall short to Millican’s 3.78 elapsed time. “We really wanted to go out there and give Clay a run for his money,” McMillen said. “I’m confident that Rob had the right tune up in there to do that. Our computer shows that we were running the same as our .76 pass – something just happened about the 330ft. mark that took us out of the race. We’re not sure why yet, but it broke a piston and just ended our day.”

The next stop on the NHRA tour for McMillen is the NHRA New England Nationals in Epping, New Hampshire June 3-5. Epping marks  the beginning of the “Eastern Swing” which includes back-to-back weekends in New Hampshire, New Jersey, Tennessee and Ohio. For more information visit NHRA.com

For those that can’t get enough of street rods and racing, they can join McMillen and the AMALIE Motor Oil XTERMIGATOR at the 28th annual Lane Automotive Car show in Watervliet, Michigan with a cruise in on Friday May 27th and the car show on Saturday May 28th. McMillen will also make his debut at the Kalamazoo Speedway in the stock class. He’ll also be the Grand Marshal for the race sponsored by Lane Automotive. Racing starts at Kalamazoo Speedway 7:30pm Friday, May 27th.

COMMERCE, Ga. (May 15, 2016) – Terry McMillen and his AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil  XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel team made a remarkable recovery after an explosion at the Houston event that destroyed his race car.

The team spent countless hours in preparation for Atlanta with help from many sponsors and the racing community. “I can’t say enough about this Rob Wendland led team,” McMillen said. “We had a lot of help to get here, but my crew did the job of a much more seasoned crew to get here and I’m very proud of each of their efforts.”

McMillen wanted to again thank Don Schumacher and DSR, John Force and JFR, Bill Miller and BME, Weld Wheels, Nitro Sew and AMALIE Motor Oil for the extra  contributions they made to support the team.

The highlight of the weekend for McMillen came in the third qualifying session. The team had struggled in the first two sessions to get a handle on the new car that fans named for the weekend as “Darth-Gator” and “Stealth-Gator” for the bare metal look, which is usually adorned with the XTERMIGATOR wrap. In the third qualifying session McMillen posted a 3.843 elapsed time, the second quickest of the session of the hot afternoon session, earning him two bonus points, a career first.

McMillen faced Shawn Langdon in the opening round and left early for a rare red light start. “We would have liked to win a round or two here this weekend, but overall I’m encouraged,” McMillen told his team shortly after the loss. “We have a few things left to work on to get back where we were, but I have no doubt we’ll rebound in Topeka.”

Which will include his XTERMIGATOR wrapped AMALIE Motor Oil Dragster.

Qualifying for Topeka begins next Friday, May 20 from Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas.

CHARLOTTE, NC (April 24, 2016) – Terry McMillen and his Rob Wendland tuned AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel Dragster continued improving on every run during the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals, only to come up short on race day.

“It’s hard not to be disappointed about a first round loss,” McMillen said. “But we’re not going to hang our heads. Especially when we went down the track every time, improved our elapsed time and brought back a happy motor.”

McMillen made consistently improving passes of 3.833, 3.827, 3.822, including a 3.816 in the first round of eliminations.

“I’m really proud of Rob (Wendland, Crew Chief) and our entire crew,” McMillen added. “We’re really starting to gel as a team and Rob is just a few small tweaks from turning this car from a low .80s bracket car into a .70s bracket car. Our splits and incrementals (times) say we’re there. We just need to put it on the scoreboard now.”

Next stop for McMillen and crew is the NHRA Spring Nationals in Baytown, Texas near Houston April 29-May 1. For more information visit NHRA.com

GAINESVILLE, Fla.  – Terry McMillen, driver of the AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel Dragster continues adding to the best start of his NHRA career. After winning rounds at the first two races of the year, McMillen backed that up at the third race of the season by racing to the finals. McMillen would have to defeat Antron Brown, Tony Schumacher and Clay Millican for a shot at his first win. He fell short with a loss to Brittany Force in the final round of competition.

“It’s bittersweet,” McMillen said. “I know people have been to many final rounds before winning one, but even though it was our first final we didn’t go up there to lose.”

“It was an awesome weekend for us,” McMillen said. “We’re starting to put some things together. We tested a new clutch set up during qualifying and we’re getting really close to where we want to be.”

“This was almost the perfect dream weekend,” McMillen continued. “Having the opportunity to get to our first final round – and then a shot at winning it in front of the entire AMALIE family, it was almost a storybook ending to the race for us. I’m so proud of all my guys, the hard work and endless hours they put in is what it took to get us to this point.”

McMillen leaves Gainesville fifth in points, the highest position he’s been in The Countdown to the Championship.