Second-generation crewchief John Smith sat on the step of Terry McMillen’s trailer and as much as he labored to smile, the disappointment was clearly evident. He and his driver McMillen fell victim to the proverbial fifty-cent part in the IHRA Texas Nationals Top Fuel final.

McMillen rolled to the starting line with a broken car and hoped for a miscue from Massey. The rookie didn’t flinch.

“The throttle cable nut fell off on the burnout or just something happened with the throttle cable when we took it off after the burn out stopped,” Smith explained. “The throttle cable was loose when it came off.  We’ve got a new team and stuff will happen.”

 

Second-generation crewchief John Smith sat on the step of Terry McMillen’s trailer and as much as he labored to smile, the disappointment was clearly evident. He and his driver McMillen fell victim to the proverbial fifty-cent part in the IHRA Texas Nationals Top Fuel final.

McMillen rolled to the starting line with a broken car and hoped for a miscue from Massey. The rookie didn’t flinch.

“The throttle cable nut fell off on the burnout or just something happened with the throttle cable when we took it off after the burn out stopped,” Smith explained. “The throttle cable was loose when it came off.  We’ve got a new team and stuff will happen.”

Smith admitted he saw the car for the first time on Thursday when he arrived in San Antonio.

“That was really the first mistake 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.”

Smith missed out on a personal duel of his own in matching up against Paul Smith, his father and tuner for Massey. Win or lose, the moment meant a lot to Smith.
 
“It was a pretty cool deal because the last few races I actually worked on that car with my dad to get this deal squared away,” Smith explained. “You could see how the performance and the gain it's gotten.  I'm really proud of my dad and everything that we've done and learned from him.  To go up against each other, I wish I had a shot but I didn't.  I'll have a shot this year I know it.  This is a championship team and we've got to grow into it and keep working hard at making everything happen. We just need some time to gel.”