TORONTO COMPLETED ON MONDAY
Millican Takes Bitter-Sweet Win at Toronto Motorsports Park
Foley Conscious and
Talking After Final Round Crash
Clay Millican moved back to the top of
the IHRA Knoll Gas-Torco Racing Fuels Pro Nitro Top Fuel championship points
standings with a victory over Doug Foley in the final round at the IHRA Canadian
Nationals at Toronto Motorsports Park. But the victory celebration was
short-lived as Millican’s concern following the race was on the well-being of
his friend and competitor.
In the final round Foley lost traction at
half-track, slid into the left lane and collided with the wall. His car bounced
back into the lane and drifted over into the right wall before coming to a stop.
Foley was conscious after the crash, but was transported to West Haldimand
General Hospital in Hagersville, Ontario, for further evaluation.
“I’ve
made the final at all three Canadian races this year, but today, to be honest
with you, I’d just assume I didn’t have this one,” said Millican. “I don’t want
to win the championship this way; I don’t want to win a race this
way.
“Besides everything today, this is definitely one of the most
exciting chases IHRA’s ever had in Top Fuel. We have the same kind of chase we
had my very first year racing Top Fuel when I lost the championship by seven
points. Going into first round today I was behind by seven points, and I thought
about that year, and how important every point is,” added Millican.
Millican Takes Bitter-Sweet Win at Toronto Motorsports Park
Foley Conscious and
Talking After Final Round Crash
Clay Millican moved back to the top of
the IHRA Knoll Gas-Torco Racing Fuels Pro Nitro Top Fuel championship points
standings with a victory over Doug Foley in the final round at the IHRA Canadian
Nationals at Toronto Motorsports Park. But the victory celebration was
short-lived as Millican’s concern following the race was on the well-being of
his friend and competitor.
In the final round Foley lost traction at
half-track, slid into the left lane and collided with the wall. His car bounced
back into the lane and drifted over into the right wall before coming to a stop.
Foley was conscious after the crash, but was transported to West Haldimand
General Hospital in Hagersville, Ontario, for further evaluation.
“I’ve
made the final at all three Canadian races this year, but today, to be honest
with you, I’d just assume I didn’t have this one,” said Millican. “I don’t want
to win the championship this way; I don’t want to win a race this
way.
“Besides everything today, this is definitely one of the most
exciting chases IHRA’s ever had in Top Fuel. We have the same kind of chase we
had my very first year racing Top Fuel when I lost the championship by seven
points. Going into first round today I was behind by seven points, and I thought
about that year, and how important every point is,” added Millican.
Dale
Creasy Jr. took great strides towards claiming the 2006 Knoll Gas-Torco Racing
Fuels Pro Nitro Funny Car championship with his victory over Paul Lee in the
final. Creasy, who entered the event with a slight lead over Jack Wyatt in the
points standings, will head to the next race this weekend in Budds Creek, Md.
with a 55-point advantage over Wyatt. It was Creasy’s third Nitro Funny Car
national event victory of the season.
“This gives us some breathing room on
the two and three guys (Wyatt and Bob Gilbertson),” said Creasy Jr. “With
Gilbertson going out first round and qualifying No. 1, it gave us some extra
points there. We’ve been fighting all year for this. We did exactly what we had
to do this weekend. We qualified low and got the bye run, we ran good every
round. The last round we had to step up a little bit, because Lee ran so well in
the semifinals. We stepped up just enough.”
Mike Janis won his second
national event on the 2006 IHRA eMax national event slate when he defeated John
Russo in the Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com Pro Modified final round. Janis, the
2004 World Champion, carded a 6.320 at 228.61 mph to find his way into the
Winner’s Circle again.
“We started the weekend running decent, qualified
No. 6. We didn’t really make any killer-fast runs today, but it was a lucky day
and we pulled it off,” said Janis. “We came into the race fourth in points,
about three rounds out of first, and it was a big concern. We’ve moved up to
second now, so that was a big deal every round, trying to get every
point.”
Paul Noakes won his second Ironman of
the season by defeating Larry Dobbs in the final round at the Canadian
Nationals. Noakes had a round path to the final, having to drive through
five-time World Champion Mark Thomas in the first round and Terry McMillen in
the semifinal.
“We had a pretty stellar race car coming in this weekend,”
said Noakes. “It was just stay on our game plan, try to get out front and let
other people make mistakes. Last year I didn’t even qualify for three of these
races, so I’m really happy to be in the winner’s circle
today.”
Rob Mansfield continued his sizzling
late-season charge and chalked up his first career Ironman when he knocked off
defending World Champion Steve Spiess in the Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com Pro
Stock final in Cayuga. Mansfield, who was the runner-up in New Hampshire two
weeks ago, posted a 6.379 at 219.61 mph to defeat Spiess, who lit the
red-light.
“I knew we had good power, and I knew we had a really good
chance to win it,” said Mansfield. “If we could just put together four good
rounds on race day, we were really confident we could come in and win this race.
This win should put us in the top
five. I’d like to see us finish fourth or third this year, but it may be tough
to do now. The top three guys are running really well. If I can remain in the
top five for this year, I’d be happy with that.”
Television
coverage of the Canadian Nationals airs on SPEED:
Top Fuel and Nitro
Funny Car and JEG’S Top Stock - Saturday, October 7 at 6 p.m.
Pro
Modified, Alcohol Funny Car and Pro Stock – Saturday, November 4 at 6
p.m.
The next event on the 2006 eMax Drag Racing Series is the Torco
Racing Fuels President’s Cup Nationals, September 29 – October 1, at Maryland
International Raceway in Budds Creek, Md.