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.”