During pre-race ceremonies Monday at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, CompetitionPlus.com presented Top Fuel owner-driver Terry McMillen the 2018 Mike Aiello “Spirit of Drag Racing” Award. That was a surprise.

Advancing to the final round at the Labor Day classic at Lucas Oil Raceway was not a surprise. Nor was winning the showdown against Doug Kalitta. After all, this was McMillen’s fifth final round of the season in the Amalie Oil Dragster.

The Elkhart, Ind., crowd favorite earned his second career victory and first since last October at Las Vegas. He used a 4.037-second, 300.66-mph pass on the Lucas Oil Raceway 1,000-foot course to deny Doug Kalitta his first Indianapolis victory in three final-round appearances.

Kalitta challenged with a 4.067-second elapsed time at 303.57 mph that came up 0.0069 of a second (about three feet) short. A dropped cylinder late in the run added some unwanted drama for McMillen, who had appeared to be an easy winner.

“This is one I want very badly, so this is a bittersweet ending for this Mac Tools team,” Kalitta said. “I am so proud of their effort and work this weekend. We almost had it."

Kalitta brushed off Leah Pritchett, Antron Brown, and Billy Torrence to reach the 650 round-win plateau and his first U.S. Nationals final in 10 years. And McMillen said he knew Kalitta would be a tough opponent: “Doug had a better record on me than I do on him [13-1 before the run]. He drilled me on the light [.047 for Kalitta to .071].”

But the day belonged to McMillen, who said after breaking a streak of five first-round losses, “It seems like when we get past first round, we go the distance here lately.” He went to the finals at Houston, Charlotte, Topeka, and Norwalk, Ohio.  

The journey, though, has been long and dotted with hurdles. (“We were breaking the car. It was blowing up. We struggled,” he said. “I walked away in Charlotte. I said, ‘I can’t do this anymore. It’s not fun. It’s not safe. And I can’t afford this.’”) He clearly was glad he slogged on and hired crew chief Rob Wendland and car chief Bob Peck and built his team of young mechanics. “I’m the most blessed person right now. I won Indy and they can’t take that away from us. And that’s pretty awesome.”

The Hoosier Thunder Motorsports owner said winning at the NHRA’s fabled Labor Day classic, this 64th edition, is “one of the highest compliments you wish you could ever have” and said, “I hope there’s many more of these, but for now, I want my team to enjoy this one, because this is special. Hats off to our entire team for giving us a good car and making it consistent.”

He said, “I’ve always known that this year was going to be a good year. Could I say if I would have scripted it would it be this good? Probably not. This is our fifth final round. That’s pretty phenomenal. If we can get two or three of these in the Countdown, we could be champions.”

No telling how emotional he would be if that were to happen. He said just knowing he was on the verge of capturing the sport’s most prestigious trophy made him a bit sentimental before the last run of the day. “I’m not going to lie. I probably was tearing up, because here it is, the final round at Indy. That doesn’t happen that often. It’s a really difficult task. I put my race face on,” he said, and dedicated himself to “do the things I’m supposed to do.”

He maybe only half-joked that for the final, “the light turned yellow. I closed my eyes and counted till four. And I saw the win light in my lane.”

That win light for McMillen also prevented Kalitta Motorsports from recording its first nitro-class double victory in 14 attempts. JR Todd (4.062 seconds, 311.70 mph) beat Matt Hagan (4.141, 300.60) to win the U.S. Nationals Funny Car trophy for the second consecutive year. A Doug Kalitta victory in Top Fuel would have given Connie Kalitta, Doug’s uncle, a combined 100th triumph as a driver and team owner.

The Countdown field was set in the first round that saw four upsets, eventual No. 10-ranked Scott Palmer pushed from the starting line with an oil pressure problem, and Tony Schumacher’s bid for a record-extending 11th Indianapolis victory end. McMillen advanced at Palmer’s expense.

Gatornationals victor Richie Crampton had struggled through qualifying and started 15th out of 16. That hindered his case for controlling his own destiny. He lost to No. 2 starter Clay Millican and had to wait for the next pairing between first-time top qualifier Mike Salinas and two-time Australian champion Wayne Newby.

Salinas secured his first No. 1 start Sunday but oiled the track during his final qualifying pass. He entered the weekend in 10th place but dropped out overnight, docked 15 points for his mess. But Salinas pedaled his way back into the Countdown lineup as his match with Newby turned into a tire-smoking lurch to the finish line. Salinas knocked Newby from the race and Crampton from the Countdown, clinching the No. 9 berth.

No. 8 Brittany Force lost to surging Antron Brown.

By the second round, the first five ranked drivers and eight of the top 10 were eliminated. Only Kalitta and McMillen moved on to the semifinal round. And they ended up being paired in the showdown.

When in the semifinals McMillen turned the tables on Blake Alexander in the rematch of their Norwalk, Ohio, final-round duel, Wendland said, “The fact the car went down the track on all eight cylinders at 3.97 and 3.96 [seconds] is a miracle right there.”

McMillen and his alligator-themed dragster had a strong bite, despite the heat and humidity and a line-up of stout opponents. He benefited in the opening round from Scott Palmer’s oil-pressure problem at the starting line and advanced on a solo pass. Then he plowed past points leader Steve Torrence and part-time sensation Blake Alexander to meet Kalitta and become only the second No. 13 qualifier to win here, the first since Kelly Brown in 1979.

When the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series’ Countdown to the Championship opens Sept. 13-16 with the Dodge NHRA Nationals at Reading, Pa.’s Maple Grove Raceway, McMillen will be the No. 7-ranked Top Fuel driver. Kalitta is No. 5 in the standings. Steve Torrence will lead the field into the six-race playoff for the second straight season.

Monday provided a celebration of Hoosiers, for Lawrenceburg native Todd drove the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car into the history books. His victory marked the first time since 2012 that a racer in any pro category has won straight U.S. Nationals finals. Former Funny Car racer Mike Neff, the current crew chief for Tony Schumacher, was the previous one to accomplish the feat.

Other pro-class winners Monday were Tanner Gray (Pro Stock), L.E. Tonglet (Pro Stock Motorcycle), and Stevie Jackson (Pro Modified).