Terry McMillen has been on a season-long roller coaster ride.

McMillen, the driver and owner of his Amalie Oil Top Fuel dragster, is at the peak of his ride right now. He made personal history at the last two NHRA events in Epping, N.H., and Chicago by making it to the semifinals in back-to-back NHRA races for the first time.

Terry McMillen has been on a season-long roller coaster ride.

McMillen, the driver and owner of his Amalie Oil Top Fuel dragster, is at the peak of his ride right now. He made personal history at the last two NHRA events in Epping, N.H., and Chicago by making it to the semifinals in back-to-back NHRA races for the first time.

“I should probably go buy a lottery ticket just to verify that, because if I win the lottery I just know it’s luck, but I really think my guys have been working hard to get this turned around,” said McMillen about his recent good fortune. “Now, we just have to keep going out there and applying pressure to the class and hopefully we can work our way into the top 10.”

McMillen is 14th in the point standings, thanks to his recent strong performances. He is now only 137 points behind 10th place Steve Torrence. McMillen also made it the semifinals at the Las Vegas event April 7.

“Richard (Hartman, McMillen’s crew chief) and Ray (Murphy, McMillen’s assistant crew chief), are getting a handle on the combination it (the dragster) wants,” McMillen said. “The moves we are making now seem to be smaller moves and more refined moves. We are not where we need to be, but we are working real hard to get there and it has showed in the last two events. We thought we found some stuff in Bristol, (Tenn.) (June 14-16) and we started working in that direction. Instead of making multiple changes, we started making one change at a time and that started showing results.”

The fact McMillen still even has a chance to make the top 10 and qualify for the six-race Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship Playoffs is noteworthy since he has failed to qualify at five of the 12 races this season.

McMillen, who has been racing full time in the NHRA since 2010, also had only made it to one semifinal before this year at Atlanta in 2011. Conversely, McMillen only had seven DNQs in 68 races before 2013.

“We have been on that roller coaster,” said McMillen, who also has a career-best seven round wins this season. “We have been at the top of that world the last couple of races and we have been at the bottom of that valley just trying to tread water and survive.”

There are six races left in NHRA’s regular season before the Countdown Playoffs begin Sept. 13-15 at Charlotte, N.C. McMillen returns to action Thursday through Sunday at the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.

“We have to go out there and continue to do the same thing,” McMillen said. “We need to continue to get the car down the track and go rounds. At the end of the day, hopefully it will all work in our favor and we will get in the top 10. It is a tough deal in NHRA Top Fuel this year. You can be a hero today and a zero tomorrow just because of the strength of the class right now.”

McMillen finished a career-best 11th in the points in 2010 and he was 12th in 2011 and 13th in the point standings last season.

All articles and photography published in CompetitionPlus.com are protected by United States of America and International copyright laws unless mentioned otherwise. The content on this website is intended for the private use of the reader and may not be published or reposted in any form without the prior written consent of CompetitionPlus.com.