Terry McMillen knew his chances of winning were a long-shot as he eased his Top Fuel dragster into the staging beams during

the final round of the IHRA Texas Nationals in San Antonio. His Amalie Oil-sponsored dragster had broken a bolt holding the throttle cable following the burnout and pending a mistake by his rookie opponent Spencer Massey, he was nothing more than a duck in the water as he lit the stage beam.

“I started praying somehow or another that it would fix itself,” McMillen, a sophomore Top Fuel racer said. “I nailed the throttle and nothing happened.”

Terry McMillen knew his chances of winning were a long-shot as he eased his Top Fuel dragster into the staging beams during

the final round of the IHRA Texas Nationals in San Antonio. His Amalie Oil-sponsored dragster had broken a bolt holding the throttle cable following the burnout and pending a mistake by his rookie opponent Spencer Massey, he was nothing more than a duck in the water as he lit the stage beam.

“I started praying somehow or another that it would fix itself,” McMillen, a sophomore Top Fuel racer said. “I nailed the throttle and nothing happened.”

McMillen watched helplessly as Massey crossed the finish line before he flipped the switch to kill the fuel thus bringing closure to the weekend.

“It was a long-shot anyway,” McMillen said. “Sometimes long-shots win.”

If anyone has ever epitomized the term “long shot”, it’s the man from Elkhart, Indiana.

“I’m happy with where it all ended up,” added McMillen, who has put aside his double-driving tendencies to focus purely on driving the dragster.

Paul Noakes now drives his Alligator-themed, Amalie Oil-sponsored Alcohol Funny Car thus enabling McMillen to focus squarely on what he does best – schmoozing the sponsors and the race fans, not to mention the media.

“My heart right now is in a Top Fuel deal,” McMillen said. “I got great guys running the team and John Smith leading them. All my guys from last year are back so I'm really ecstatic about that but I have to tell you it's going to be really strange sitting outside that Funny Car watching a new driver take it down the track.”

McMillen may devote the lion’s share of his attention to the dragster but a part of his heart will remain true to the Funny Car.

“I'll always miss it,” McMillen admitted. “I think just because it's one of the harder cars to drive with the short wheel base and all that horse power. There are so many things going on inside.”

Back to reality, McMillen’s final round appearance was made even more impressive bu the fact the run was  only his sixth down the dragstrip since 2007. In a day and age when the larger teams reach multiple test sessions before the first event, he went into the event untested.

“We tried all winter to get out and we've just had delays here and there and it just never allowed us, and obviously I had obligations with my position at Torco Race Fuels so that's kind of slowed me down a little bit,” McMillen said. “I’ve got the best guys in the world and I didn't really have to worry about it, because I knew they’d build me a good car. I expected me to be the weak link. I'm the guy who's probably going to be the lowest guy on the totem pole here in performance with the talent that I have right now.”

In the end, McMillen wasn’t the weak link, a fifty-cent part was. The fifty-cent parts will get you every time.
 

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS - McMillen is working many angles of promotion this year in addition to his major endorsement program with Amalie Oil. He’s also carrying a promotion with Country Music Television’s “Trick My Truck” television show. During the promotion, McMillen, in conjunction with CMT, will offer an opportunity for a lucky fan to accompany his team to the races.

“We’ll fly them in and they can ride with us in the transporter to the races,” McMillen said. “This will be an all-expenses paid experience and they will be part of the crew.”

McMillen added the program has already gained momentum since appearing on the CMT website. Without promotion several thousand entries were received by last Friday. As of today, the number had doubled.

As excited as McMillen is about the project, he’s brought back to reality that he’s not on the same level as teenage sensation Miley Cyrus who had over eighty times more participants on her sweepstakes program announced with a few hours after his.

“Don’t know that I can sing as well and I’m certainly not as good looking,” McMillen said with a chuckle. “But I do know I can drive a Top Fuel dragster better and if that’s my only bragging right, I’ll take it.”