Clay Millican stated emphatically before the NHRA O’Reilly Summernationals the time for the MPE Motorsports Top Fuel team to make something happen was at Heartland Park Topeka. Going to the final round is making something happen.

Millican’s Topeka runner-up to Larry Dixon was his fourth career NHRA final round and first since May 2004.

The multi-time IHRA Top Fuel champion has never won an NHRA event and though he entered the weekend as 11th in points, 105 behind Joe Hartley, his first round Sunday foe.  Now, he is within 38 points (360-322).

Clay Millican stated emphatically before the NHRA O’Reilly Summernationals the time for the MPE Motorsports Top Fuel team to make something happen was at Heartland Park Topeka. Going to the final round is making something happen. 

Millican’s Topeka runner-up finish to Larry Dixon was his fourth career NHRA final round appearance, but only his first since May 2004.

The multi-time IHRA Top Fuel champion has never won an NHRA event. He entered the weekend as 11th in points, 105 behind Joe Hartley, his first round opponent on Sunday.  Millican is now within 38 points (360-322) of replacing Hartley in the top ten.

Millican missed one event this season, the NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals in Las Vegas, after a slow start to the season. The Topeka outing made up for the missed opportunity earlier in the season.

“It was an awesome day at the track,” said Millican.  “Our car went down the track on every run and we were very consistent with times of 4.050, 4.026, 4.020 and 4.056 seconds.  And we got a lot closer to 10th place in points.”

Millican’s 4.056-second time (293.41 mph), came against final round opponent Dixon, who trailed Millican off the starting line (.028-second to .064), but caught the Hope4Sudan/Motorvation dragster with a 3.971 (301.74) closing effort to take home the trophy.

“We decided before the finals that we didn’t need to beat ourselves, that we needed to do what got us there . . . and that’s what we did,” Millican said.  “Lance (Larsen, team crew chief) came up with a tune-up that really works in the heat.  We couldn’t get much more consistent than we were Sunday.  The car was smooth as silk to drive.

“I drove the car the way I used to and had fun with it. But it was a bit disappointing when I saw Larry’s front wheels creep past my windshield a little bit, and I knew he had the win.  Our guys have nothing to be ashamed of.  I’m very proud of them.  We needed a performance like this really, really bad.

“We might not have turned on the win light, but it was still a great day for us.” 

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