SECOND-GENERATION MILLICAN HITS THE TRACK
Tue, 2007-05-15 23:04
His dad is a six-time series champion and 50-race winner, doing so by keeping
all four of his Top Fuel dragster’s wheels on the asphalt. Dalton Millican,
meanwhile, is more content flying through the air and sliding around dirt
corners on his 4-wheeler.
The son of IHRA champion and current NHRA competitor Clay Millican and wife Donna, Dalton must’ve inherited his father's competitive genes because he’s placed third and second, respectively, in his first two All Terrain Vehicle Association (ATVA) motocross events.
“He’s not done too badly,” said Clay. “I thought he did really well with the third in his first national event. Then last weekend, in the debut with his new sponsors – Knoll-Gas Motorsports and Lonestar Racing – he ran in two classes at Red Bud (near Buchanan, Mich.), and finished second in Production C class and third in Open C Unlimited.
His dad is a six-time series champion and 50-race winner, doing so by keeping
all four of his Top Fuel dragster’s wheels on the asphalt. Dalton Millican,
meanwhile, is more content flying through the air and sliding around dirt
corners on his 4-wheeler.
The son of IHRA champion and current NHRA competitor Clay Millican and wife Donna, Dalton must’ve inherited his father's competitive genes because he’s placed third and second, respectively, in his first two All Terrain Vehicle Association (ATVA) motocross events.
“He’s not done too badly,” said Clay. “I thought he did really well
with the third in his first national event. Then last weekend, in the debut with
his new sponsors – Knoll-Gas Motorsports and Lonestar Racing – he ran in two
classes at Red Bud (near Buchanan, Mich.), and finished second in Production C
class and third in Open C Unlimited.
“Dalton’s definitely fired up,” he continued. “He works out every day – cardio, lifting weights, swimming and running. I just hope he stays enthused about racing as the year wears on and he goes to more and more races. He has been pretty darned impressive.”
Father and son’s racing endeavors are intertwined despite their distinct differences – Knoll’s Knoll-Gas Motorsports companies support both. Knoll owns Clay Millican’s RATT – Back for More dragster featuring the 1980s rock band.
“Dalton and Evan became friends during NHRA’s race at Phoenix earlier this year,” Clay said. “Evan likes motocross – he has a track in his backyard – and they talked a lot about the sport and soon they basically started racing together. I thought it was pretty awesome that my kid and Evan figured this out amongst themselves and dad didn’t have much to do with it.”
Veteran racer Keith Parker is not only Dalton’s teammate on the Knoll-Gas Motorsports/Lonestar Racing team but he serves as the Quad team’s manager\mechanic.
“It’s exciting to have the opportunity to work with Evan Knoll,” said Dalton. “I was real nervous when I met him for the first time. I know how much he does for the racers. For him to step up and say he wanted to be involved with a kid trying to go 4-wheel racing is great.”
Clay, meanwhile, finds it is “unbelievably exciting watching
Dalton out there rubbing wheels with these people and getting used to the
massive jumps,” he said. “At the same time, it is nerve-racking. You’re
thinking, ‘hurry up and pass the guy or stay where you are . . . and don’t
crash.’ You hit all the emotions watching.”
Dalton began riding three years ago. “Naturally, he wanted to start racing, so he did,” said the proud dad. “It didn’t take him long to pass me (in riding skills). Dad still does pretty good when we are drag racing, but once we started hitting the 60-and 80-foot (motocross) jumps, I pulled aside to watch him.”
Lonestar Racing, one of the premier 4-wheeler aftermarket manufacturers, was happy to become involved with the promising newcomer. “We were interested in this opportunity because they have a very clean, professional-looking team with someone who really has a passion for the sport, is motivated to be an up-and-comer and has the drive to succeed,” said Dan Fisher, vice president of Lonestar Racing. “They are always going to look good and do a good job representing us. We were very motivated to get involved.
“The success we had last weekend was a bonus. It’s always good. You tend to get a lot more out of representation when they do well. As long as they look professional and clean and always finish a race; that is the most important thing.”
The Knoll-Gas Motorsports/Lonestar Racing duo of Dalton Millican and Parker resumes ATVA action at Bowling Green, Ky., May 25-27.
The son of IHRA champion and current NHRA competitor Clay Millican and wife Donna, Dalton must’ve inherited his father's competitive genes because he’s placed third and second, respectively, in his first two All Terrain Vehicle Association (ATVA) motocross events.
“He’s not done too badly,” said Clay. “I thought he did really well with the third in his first national event. Then last weekend, in the debut with his new sponsors – Knoll-Gas Motorsports and Lonestar Racing – he ran in two classes at Red Bud (near Buchanan, Mich.), and finished second in Production C class and third in Open C Unlimited.
The son of IHRA champion and current NHRA competitor Clay Millican and wife Donna, Dalton must’ve inherited his father's competitive genes because he’s placed third and second, respectively, in his first two All Terrain Vehicle Association (ATVA) motocross events.
“He’s not done too badly,” said Clay. “I thought he did really well
with the third in his first national event. Then last weekend, in the debut with
his new sponsors – Knoll-Gas Motorsports and Lonestar Racing – he ran in two
classes at Red Bud (near Buchanan, Mich.), and finished second in Production C
class and third in Open C Unlimited. “Dalton’s definitely fired up,” he continued. “He works out every day – cardio, lifting weights, swimming and running. I just hope he stays enthused about racing as the year wears on and he goes to more and more races. He has been pretty darned impressive.”
Father and son’s racing endeavors are intertwined despite their distinct differences – Knoll’s Knoll-Gas Motorsports companies support both. Knoll owns Clay Millican’s RATT – Back for More dragster featuring the 1980s rock band.
“Dalton and Evan became friends during NHRA’s race at Phoenix earlier this year,” Clay said. “Evan likes motocross – he has a track in his backyard – and they talked a lot about the sport and soon they basically started racing together. I thought it was pretty awesome that my kid and Evan figured this out amongst themselves and dad didn’t have much to do with it.”
Veteran racer Keith Parker is not only Dalton’s teammate on the Knoll-Gas Motorsports/Lonestar Racing team but he serves as the Quad team’s manager\mechanic.
“It’s exciting to have the opportunity to work with Evan Knoll,” said Dalton. “I was real nervous when I met him for the first time. I know how much he does for the racers. For him to step up and say he wanted to be involved with a kid trying to go 4-wheel racing is great.”
Clay, meanwhile, finds it is “unbelievably exciting watching
Dalton out there rubbing wheels with these people and getting used to the
massive jumps,” he said. “At the same time, it is nerve-racking. You’re
thinking, ‘hurry up and pass the guy or stay where you are . . . and don’t
crash.’ You hit all the emotions watching.”Dalton began riding three years ago. “Naturally, he wanted to start racing, so he did,” said the proud dad. “It didn’t take him long to pass me (in riding skills). Dad still does pretty good when we are drag racing, but once we started hitting the 60-and 80-foot (motocross) jumps, I pulled aside to watch him.”
Lonestar Racing, one of the premier 4-wheeler aftermarket manufacturers, was happy to become involved with the promising newcomer. “We were interested in this opportunity because they have a very clean, professional-looking team with someone who really has a passion for the sport, is motivated to be an up-and-comer and has the drive to succeed,” said Dan Fisher, vice president of Lonestar Racing. “They are always going to look good and do a good job representing us. We were very motivated to get involved.
“The success we had last weekend was a bonus. It’s always good. You tend to get a lot more out of representation when they do well. As long as they look professional and clean and always finish a race; that is the most important thing.”
The Knoll-Gas Motorsports/Lonestar Racing duo of Dalton Millican and Parker resumes ATVA action at Bowling Green, Ky., May 25-27.
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