"We'll never take anything for granted," McMillen said. "We've got four round wins for a career and three of those over the last three weeks. There are teams out here that get that in a weekend. We're just trying to keep that 'any given Sunday' mentality. If we stay consistent, maybe we can string a few round wins together and find ourselves in a final round before the year is over."

Continue reading "Hoosier Thunder wants to make noise in Thunder Valley" »

By Jim - Posted 4:28 PM | Permalink |

ENGLISHTOWN, Pre Race - When the Joliet race began, it marked the beginning of a 7 race - 8 week stint in the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. The Amalie Oil Top Fuel / Hoosier Thunder Motorsports team wanted to try something a little different for our "quad back to back," followed by a breather, then a "triple back to back" race schedule.

Instead of a 'traditional' press release - we're opting for something a little more relaxed. Call it our laid back news and notes or something 'funner' when a better name comes to us.

Without further ado:

Chitown Hustle - or was it the hurry up and wait? Rain made for some late nights and earlier mornings at the Joliet race. We got our second round win of the season in a match up with Bob Vandergriff and didn't have enough for Schumacher in round two. We ran side by side with him to about the 330 foot mark - then hazed the tires. We may have been a little too aggressive at that spot of the track, or there might have been a mist of oil on the track (several fans and friends told us the next five teams smoked the tires in the exact same spot). The car is back to making some strong early numbers. Richard and Terry are working on some magic clutch dust to sprinkle in on the disc to get us through the 'haze zone' for Englishtown. The Joliet round win pulls us within 12 points of Grubnic and the elusive 10th spot.

"We're really happy about getting our second, first round win," McMillen said. "Richard has this car running very consistent and winning rounds consistently on race day is a testament to the team's hard work. I hope this means we don't have to get another monkey for the second round."

Continue reading "Summertime and the living is easy..." »

By Jim - Posted 4:26 PM | Permalink |

JOLIET, Ill.  -- After earning his first round win of the season, Terry McMillen, driver of the Amalie Oil Top Fuel dragster hopes that momentum will carry him deeper into the race at his first hometown appearance in a Top Fuel dragster. The Route 66 Raceway is just minutes from the streets that McMillen roamed as a young man.

"Everything started for me around here," McMillen said. "I worked two paper routes in this area just to be able to buy my first car and race at U.S. 30 Dragstrip. That 392 (cubic inch) Hemi with two four barrel carburators had to compete against some of the baddest hotrods around."

While the drag racing competition in the Chicago area was tough in the early days, McMillen knows it's just as tough today.

"There has always been a lot of top teams in this area and I think if you just look at the depth of the Nitro fields and the car counts, you began to realize that this is a special race for a lot of us. It's like everyone is looking for a little bragging rights."

Continue reading "McMillen carries momentum into hometown Chicago race" »

By Jim - Posted 12:28 AM | Permalink |

TOPEKA, Kan. -- It took nine tries, but Terry McMillen, driver of the Amalie Oil Top Fuel team, got his first round win of the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle season. McMillen defeated Steve Torrence in the opening round of the O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka. The win gets the proverbial monkey off of his team's back and gives the Elkhart, Ind. based team momentum going into the heart of the summer racing season.

"I knew we had something to work with after Saturday night qualifying," McMillen said. "When we ran the fifth best elapsed time of Q4 I knew Richard [Hartman - Crew Chief] had a good tune-up for our car."

The Amalie Oil dragster was only one of two teams able to win from the bottom half of the ladder and the right lane. McMillen posted a 3.917 e.t. at 307.86mph to Torrence's 3.994 e.t. at 303.50mph.

Continue reading "McMillen gets monkey off his back in Topeka" »

By Jim - Posted 5:24 PM | Permalink |

TOPEKA, Kan. -- The ninth race of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Race takes place this weekend at Heartland Park Topeka and Terry McMillen finds his Amalie Oil Top Fuel dragster winless so far on the NHRA tour.

"I don't think you can ever underestimate the depth of talented teams here in the NHRA," McMillen said. "There's no such thing as an easy round. We're going to have to win our first round the old fashion way and earn it."

Continue reading "Fans inspire McMillen in quest for first round win " »

By Jim - Posted 8:47 AM | Permalink |

ATLANTA - Can you be 0-7 on race day this season and still be confident? After losing seven straight elimination rounds, Terry McMillen, driver of the Amalie Oil Top Fuel dragster thinks so. "We might be the only 0-7 team out here, but we're better than our record would indicate," McMillen said.

While some would argue that McMillen might be full of confidence, it's hard to argue with his team's early season accomplishments. McMillen has qualified in the top half of the field in the last three races and set new personal best elapsed time and mile per hour records this season. Yet, winning a round on Sunday still eludes that Elkhart, Ind. based team.

Continue reading "McMillen marches into Atlanta with confidence and determination" »

By Jim - Posted 9:27 PM | Permalink |

Spencer Lacy and his Lil' InstiGator team showed off their new Amalie Racing crew jerseys.

Despite the 47 degree temperature and 25 mph winds the team raced on and looked good doing it.

By Jim - Posted 9:19 PM | Permalink |