Fan-favorite NHRA Top Fuel driver/owner Terry McMillen is optimistic 2017 will be his best year yet on the national circuit.

“We are starting out the year with a new front half/back half DSR chassis,” McMillen said. “It’s a good car and everything is right about it. We just had to put some new tubing underneath it and I think it’s going to be great. Looking forward, with the items that we changed the last four races of the year (in 2016), the car started picking up. Even though that car didn’t want to 60-foot at all, the first car prior to Houston was a good car and that thing would 60-foot, but didn’t have what this car has. I think now we have the combination. We started running a few more 70s and we just need to get the thing to run 72, 73 down the track all the time and put ourselves with an opportunity to go win.”

McMillen said Rob Wendland is once again serving as his crew chief. Wendland joined McMillen’s team in December of 2014.

“Rob has done a fantastic job of leading the charge,” McMillen said. “He and the crew do a fantastic job and I think we have a lot to bring this year. Our first goal is to get our car in the top 10, but I wouldn’t mind winning Gainesville ahead of schedule. We are working really hard and just trying to stay ahead of the game and just continue to get an inventory of parts and have the depth that some of these other teams have. If we can do that, we can put ourselves in position to certainly make the top 10 and win some races.”

The season-opening Winternationals are Feb. 9-12 in Pomona, Calif., followed by the Arizona Nationals (Feb. 24-26) in Chandler, Ariz., and the Amalie Motor Oil Gatornationals March 16-19 in Gainesville, Fla. McMillen’s primary sponsor is Amalie Motor Oil.

“Amalie Motor Oil is with us through 2019,” McMillen said. “We have had a really long run with them, 18 years, and they been with us when we have been down and they been with us when we have been good. We just want to pay some of that back and have a banner season.”

McMillen has been competing in NHRA’s ranks full time since 2010 and has been knocking on the door to make it into the top 10 in the regular season points standings and compete in the six-race Countdown to the Championship.

In 2010 and 2011, McMillen was 11th and 12th in the points standings and he also was 11th in the points chase last season.

“What happens when you are so close, it just makes your desire to achieve that goal that much more intense,” McMillen said. “You just have to remember it is a long season to get in the top 10, you don’t have to do it in the first three or four races or first five races. You just have to keep battling and keep yourself up there. This is the first (offseason) that we weren’t moving the race shop from Elkhart, Ind., to Indy and throwing all those other nuances in the way. We were actually able to concentrate on the car and everything else we needed to do. I think preparation-wise we are probably the best we have ever been and car-wise, I’m so confident in this car.”

McMillen moved his team’s headquarters from Elkhart to Indy in November of 2015.

“We are actually in one of Larry Dixon’s shops and it’s really nice,” McMillen said. “It’s good for the guys because everything that you need is almost in Indy anymore. We’re just trying to put the infrastructure in a better place and I think the key to that all has been Rob Wendland and his determination to be successful at what we are doing. For Amalie Motor Oil and all our marketing partners, I think it is going to be a banner year and I think the opportunity for us to show what we can do is going to take place.”

NHRA’s Nitro Spring Training is taking place Feb. 1-4 at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, but McMillen said he is undecided if his team will be there.

“We were looking to go there and we still may,” McMillen said. “Right now, it is undecided because we just picked up the car (Jan. 19) and now we are putting parts in the chassis. Our intention is to try and make the test session, but I’m not going to guarantee it.”

McMillen acknowledged his 2017 season would be especially memorable if he could finally get into the Countdown.

“It’s a monumental task for us right now,” he said. “We get so close to the top 10 and then we just stumble. Our biggest problem over the last couple of years is that we were fighting valve train issues, and the valve train issues were nothing but valves. Once we found the combination, we haven’t had one of those explosions since. To go out there and get in the top 10 would be huge for Amalie Oil and huge for our team and it might even cause me to retire and put someone else in the car and be a spectator for a while. Right now, I just want to concentrate on getting in the top 10 and go as many rounds as we can this year and try and to get some wins or at least some more runner-ups. Going to the finals at Gainesville (last year) was huge and now that we have a taste of it, we want more of it.”

McMillen made his inaugural appearance in an NHRA final round at Gainesville a year ago, losing to Brittany Force.