Veteran Top Fuel racer Terry McMillen received the 2018 Mike Aiello "Spirit of Drag Racing" Award during pre-race ceremonies Monday at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.

CompetitionPlus.com owner and publisher Bobby Bennett made the surprise presentation to McMillen. The Mike Aiello Award recipient is someone who has persevered and remained positive in spite of hardship.

"Mike was the kind of person, who always looked past his own challenges in life to see the positives in others," Bennett said. "He was the fan of the underdog, the one whose heart exceeded their budget or talents. He refused to let his handicaps define him, instead choosing to serve as an inspiration."

The Mike Aiello Award honors the Houston native and standout college athlete at Texas Tech University who was a longtime drag-racing fan and former National Hot Rod Association Pro Stock crew member. The honor commonly is referred to as "The Spirit of Drag Racing Award.”
 
Aiello spent his final years confined to a wheelchair after a workplace injury. Despite physical hardship and severe mobility limitations, he not only attended drag races but made dozens of friends among racers, crew members, and media with his positive outlook and unselfish behavior. Aiello passed away December 29, 2006, at age 39, at Santa Monica, California.
 
McMillen, of Elkhart, Ind., has joined the elite group of NHRA Top Fuel winners after years of being a sentimental favorite but underdog in his Amalie Oil Dragster. He won last fall at Las Vegas just five days after he and longtime sweetheart Cori were married in a desert ceremony.

The owner-driver for Hoosier Thunder Motorsports has rebounded from two massive engine explosions, one in May 2016 at Baytown, Texas, near Houston, and another the following June at Epping, N.H. With crew chief Rob Wendland, car chief Bob Peck, and a young team that has grown exponentially this season in knowledge and performance (along with a strong bond with marketing partner Amalie Oil), McMillen has advanced in 2018 to four final rounds.

They include a therapeutic one at Houston’s Royal Purple Raceway, where he was on the verge of leaving drag racing only two years ago. The other final-round appearances came at Charlotte’s four-wide event, Topeka, and Norwalk, Ohio.

“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... https://t.co/cDnglhxsmh

— Competition Plus (@competitionplus) September 4, 2018

For years, privateer McMillen struggled to acquire the “latest and greatest” parts for his dragster, only to realize when he did that the abundantly funded teams had raised the performance bar with the newest version of those parts. But he continued working and eventually advanced to his first final round – at the 2016 Gatornationals at Gainesville, Fla., an Amalie Oil-sponsored race.  

“Not everyone realizes how hard it is to own your own team out here. It has been a long journey, and it’s just nice, just so rewarding, to see somebody recognize all the obstacles Terry has overcome to get here,” Cori McMillen said.

Crew chief John Medlen received the inaugural Mike Aiello Award in 2007, followed by Funny Car driver Tim Wilkerson (2008), Pro Stock's Mike Edwards (2009), International Hot Rod Association racer and journalist Michael Beard (2010), NHRA Funny Car racer Jack Beckman (2011), and former IHRA President Aaron Polburn (2012). Top Fuel racer Antron Brown and Top Alcohol Dragster’s Shawn Cowie shared the 2013 honor. Steve Johnson was honored in 2014, Don Schumacher in 2015, Leah Pritchett in 2016, and brothers Bobby and Dom Lagana in 2017.