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.

North Dinwiddie, Va. (June 6, 2018) – Terry McMillen and his AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel team head to the Virginia NHRA Nationals near Richmond and McMillen can’t wait to get back on the track.

“We missed a great opportunity to make a move up the ladder in Chicago,” McMillen said. “We just had some fuel system issues in Chicago that we thought we had figured out on Sunday, but it just didn’t work out in our favor. We’re ready to get back out there and continue the success we’ve had so far this season.”

McMillen’s season is shaping up to be the best of his career. He currently has nine round wins, already the second best for an entire season. He won 14 rounds in 2017, including his first win in Las Vegas. He’s also been to 3 final rounds through the first nine races of 2018.

“I’m glad we’re back racing in Virginia,” McMillen said. “I’ve raced here a lot over the years in my Alcohol Funny Car. One of my first Top Fuel NHRA races was here in Richmond. The fans are great, the track is great and we’re looking for a great finish in Richmond.”

Professional qualifying begins Friday June 8th with eliminations on Sunday June 10th.

SONOMA, Calif. (July 25, 2017) – Terry McMillen, driver of the AMALIE® Motor Oil XTERMIGATOR® Top Fuel dragster has made some unusual promises in the past, but at this weekend’s 30th annual Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals, McMillen has reached a new level.

“I think the first thing I’m going to do when I get there is kneel down and kiss the track,” McMillen said as he traveled across Nevada en-route to Sonoma. “We had a rough weekend in Denver. We just couldn’t seem to get a handle on the altitude at the Mile High Nationals. So, Sonoma’s sea-level conditions will be a welcome site for me. I can’t wait to get this car back to the set up our crew chief Rob Wendland has worked so hard on that has had us competitive all year long.”

McMillen holds the eighth spot for The Countdown with just four races remaining to secure a spot in the Top 10.

“We’re looking at this and feel like we have to find at least three more round wins between now and Indy,” McMillen explains. “Traditionally we always seem to find a race on the Western Swing and do well. Even then, we always seem to come up a point short after Indy. I’m not sure three more round wins will be enough to secure a spot in the Top 10, but that should get us in the mix. Every little point, every round win counts, our AMALIE crew is going to do whatever it takes to get us there. An event win sometime in the next month would go a long way as well.”

As summer continues to countdown to the NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis Labor Day Weekend, McMillen finds himself in his usual fight for a spot in the Top 10. This will be his strongest position in the standings at Sonoma, but one that does not leave a lot of comfort room for the Elkhart, Indiana team owner and driver. McMillen has a small lead over Scott Palmer, Troy Coughlin, Jr. and Shawn Langdon, who are all within reach of each other vying for a spot in The Countdown.

“It’s really going to get interesting over the next few races,” McMillen continued. “We all control our own destiny at this point. That includes our team. We are kind of leading our pack right now and the only way to continue to do that is to go out there and beat the best to stay where we are. I’m as confident as I have ever been at this point in the season and can’t wait to get things started in Sonoma.”

The Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals will feature two rounds of pro qualifying at 4:15 and 7 p.m. on Friday, July 28, and two final rounds of qualifying on Saturday, July 29, at 1:10 and 4:20 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 11 a.m. on Sunday, July 30. The event that will be televised on FS1, including live final eliminations coverage starting at 1:30 p.m. (PT) on Sunday, July 30. It marks the 15th of 24 events in 2017 and the second of three stops on the NHRA Western Swing.

NORWALK, Ohio (June 22, 2017) – Qualifying for the NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Nationals starts Friday for Terry McMillen and his AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel team and while winning the race is a goal, winning the opening round is just as big for McMillen. McMillen has reset his career-best elapsed time and speed this season but has struggled since an explosion two races ago in Epping, New Hampshire.

“I’ve got all the confidence in the world that Rob Wendland and his crew will get us back on track,” McMillen said. “This is the heart of the season. There are six races left before Indy and every round of every race is going to be crucial for us.”

McMillen has not had a round win since Charlotte, despite making solid qualifying efforts in the 3.70s. “The key for us is to get back to that consistency we had,” McMillen continued. “We lost to Leah in Atlanta with a 3.77 and then Clay in Topeka with a 3.76. Then we go to Epping and run a 3.73 and we think things are looking good. I think if we get back to that consistency, things are going to be fine.”

“I still believe an independent team can do this,” McMillen said. “Clay proved that last race with his first win. I couldn’t be happier for those guys. They’re keeping the dream alive for the independent team. It’s tough out here swimming against the tide of these team cars and alliances, but we’re too stupid to quit. We’ve come here to win.”

Professional qualifying starts tomorrow in Norwalk with eliminations on Sunday.

COMMERCE, Ga. (May 10, 2016) – Some called it the biggest explosion in NHRA Top Fuel drag racing in over a decade. Terry McMillen, driver of the AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel team won’t argue that point.

“That was a career first for me,” McMillen recalled of the fiery explosion that totalled his race car. “Once I knew the rear tire was gone, all I wanted to do was keep it in my lane and not get into Tony (Schumacher, McMillen’s opponent). I’m just thankful no one got seriously injured.”

McMillen has always known that NHRA Drag Racing is a family sport and it was never more evident to him than immediately after the incident and the week afterwards as the team continued to rebuild for the upcoming Atlanta event this weekend.

“We all want to beat each other for about four seconds,” McMillen said. “After that, we’re a pretty tight-knit group. As soon as I got back to the pits Force (Funny Car Champion John Force) was there on his scooter telling me ‘whatever you need kid, we need you out here, we’re here for you’. Minutes later Tony Schumacher comes down to make sure I’m OK and I just want to make sure he’s OK. Then Don walks in (Don Schumacher, owner of DSR and McMillen’s chassis builder) and tells me not to worry about it. He’s already talked to his guys at the shop and they’re getting a chassis ready for us. That was pretty amazing since we had just started evaluating what happened on that run and Don’s already got a plan to get us back on the track.”

“I’m afraid to start thanking people for fear of leaving someone out,” McMillen added. “Amalie steps in with some extra support to get us back up and running, Weld Wheels steps in and supports us with a set of their new one piece wheels, Nicky Boninfante and the folks at Nitro Sew stepped up with a restraint to keep our blower with the car – it’s really just amazing.”

Anytime there is an incident like the one that McMillen experienced in Houston, a lot of evaluation goes into what happened and how to prevent it from happening again. This was no exception.

“The NHRA came down and we all evaluated the run on the computer and inspected the parts,” McMillen said. “I can tell you this, except for the blower getting away from the car, everything worked exactly as it should have. We looked at the run and there was nothing wrong with Rob Wendland’s tune up. We put a hole out, but the engine didn’t see any excessive pan pressure or blower pressure. We have devices on our car to shut it off if those events occur. Something just broke in the rocker assembly. Rob and the guys are doing a great job in keeping up with the parts. We looked at the valves and none of them had more than four runs on them. Goodyear was down there looking at the tires, Weld looking at their wheels, Schumacher at his chassis – everything did what it was suppose to do from that standpoint. If the blower doesn’t get into the tire, this is an oildown at best.”

“I know this,” said McMillen. “Rob, Bob and the guys and gal have put in a lot of hours this week to get this car ready for Atlanta. We’re not limping in here by any means. Call it whatever you want, XTERMIGATOR 2 or even XTERMIGATOR version 2.0. A lot of people went above and beyond to help us get to Atlanta and we’re not going to let them down.”

Qualifying for the NHRA Southern Nationals begins this Friday, May 13th in Commerce, Georgia. FOX Sports 1 has qualifying coverage on Friday starting at 7:30p.m. EST, Saturday at 10p.m EST with coverage of eliminations starting at 4:30p.m EST Sunday. For more information visit NHRA.com

LAS VEGAS  – Off to the best start of his NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing career, Terry McMillen driver of the AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel Dragster heads to the fourth event of the season focused and confident. After his first final round appearance in Gainesville and currently fifth in the point standings with five round wins under his belt, who could blame him?

NHRA statistician, Lewis Bloom reported this week that only two Top Fuel teams have won at least one round in each of the first three events. The early season accomplishment goes to Terry McMillen and Clay Millican.

“Obviously our goal is to win”, McMIllen said. “Right now we just want to keep improving. We’re working hard at improving our early numbers and once we get that figured out we’ll be in the thick of the battle week in and week out. We’re just taking it one round at a time and we want to keep moving forward while we do that.”

Las Vegas is a trip that McMillen looks forward to each year. “We have a remarkable relationship with Tahiti Village,” McMillen said. “They have believed in us since the second year we started full-time NHRA racing. Staying with them for a race or a vacation is an awesome experience. They treat you like family.”

McMillen and his alligator themed AMALIE Motor Oil dragster will be on display from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday March 30th at Tahiti Village located at 7200 South Las Vegas Blvd. The public is invited.

McMillen will also participate in the NHRA Fanfest Thursday night March 31st. The two hour event kicks off at 6pm at the New York-New York Hotel & Casino, with an autograph session from 7-8 p.m.

Racing for the Denso Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals starts April 1st with Friday and Saturday qualifying and final eliminations scheduled for Sunday, April 3rd.

St. Louis, Mo. (September 23, 2015) – A catastrophic intake explosion at the Charlotte race this past Sunday had NHRA Top Fuel driver Terry McMillen contemplating his future due to the escalating cost of the oil down penalty. Now, just a few days later, McMillen has a new plan that starts in St. Louis this weekend at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals.

Inspired by fans, sponsors, crew chiefs, fellow team owners and NHRA executives, McMillen feels focused and ready to finish the season on a high note.

“I can’t thank everyone enough for the words of encouragement this week,” McMillen said. “It really shows how much we all love this sport and how much we want to see things improve for teams and fans.”

“I also think we should all thank NHRA executives for their interest in exploring alternatives and willingness to address the oil down penalties. The new policy, which includes an open line of communication between all crew chiefs and the Safety Safari should prove to further reduce oil downs and more importantly for us, reduce the kind of explosions that stress team budgets. The NHRA is proving that we all have the same goals, make a better show for the fans and keep drag racing competitive and safe for everyone. I also want to specifically thank Peter Clifford and Graham Light for their efforts to work with all race teams. I believe their efforts exemplify NHRA’s commitment to taking our sport to the next level. I’m excited about our future.”

Crew Chief Rob Wendland and Assistant Crew Chief Bob Peck for the AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil INSTIGATOR Top Fuel team continued their quest to make the team a contender. Wendland had a conversation with Jim Head, John Boyce and Tom Shelar about a two-piece intake manifold that Chad Head had been testing on his Funny Car.

“This manifold is designed to be one large burst panel instead of trying to contain the explosion within the manifold,” Wendland said. “We’ll be the first dragster to use it. We want to do whatever we can to contain oil in these types of events. But, we also need to keep the intake manifold from flying off the car and potentially cutting a tire or hitting a fellow racer or flying into the grandstands. We hope this new two-piece manifold addresses these issues.”

McMillen will be in St. Louis on Thursday for the Fan Festival from 4PM-7PM at ‘The Outfield’ Mike Shannon’s on 7th and Market Street in downtown St. Louis.