Top Fuel racer Clay Millican said recently that his executive contacts at marketing partner Parts Plus took a chance to tease him a little bit.
 
Upon learning that his 19-year-old son Dalton had earned the American Motorcycle Association (AMA) ATV Motocross national 450A  championship, they told him, "Maybe we're sponsoring the wrong Millican!"
 
Mark and Lauren Pickens of MPE Motorsports, owners of Clay Millican's dragster, already have been actively supporting the younger Drummonds, Tenn., native. But the Motocross dominator got a surprisingly tremendous boost this week -- from high-profile drag-racing participant Kenny Koretsky.
 
Koretsky's Nitro Fish Ultimate Gear Company is making its first venture into AMA ATV Motocross. The Pennsylvania businessman, who for awhile owned Millican's team after purchasing it from Peter Lehman, said he saw this new sponsorship as both a personal and professional decision.

Top Fuel racer Clay Millican said recently that his executive contacts at marketing partner Parts Plus took a chance to tease him a little bit.
 
Upon learning that his 19-year-old son Dalton had earned the American Motorcycle Association (AMA) ATV Motocross national 450A  championship, they told him, "Maybe we're sponsoring the wrong Millican!"
 
Mark and Lauren Pickens of MPE Motorsports, owners of Clay Millican's dragster, already have been actively supporting the younger Drummonds, Tenn., native. But the Motocross dominator got a surprisingly tremendous boost this week -- from high-profile drag-racing participant Kenny Koretsky.
 
Koretsky's Nitro Fish Ultimate Gear Company is making its first venture into AMA ATV Motocross. The Pennsylvania businessman, who for awhile owned Millican's team after purchasing it from Peter Lehman, said he saw this new sponsorship as both a personal and professional decision.
 
"I have watched Dalton grow up, and I am very proud of how hard he works at being competitive. I am also very impressed with the professionalism he displays in running this team," Koretsky said. "Nitro Fish Ultimate Gear is a great fit for the ATV MX National Championship Series, and Dalton is the right person to represent us."
 
Koretsky threw his financial support in 2010 behind LE Tonglet, and that helped the young Pro Stock Motorcycle rider earn the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series championship, sharing honors that season with multi-time kings Larry Dixon (Top Fuel), John Force (Funny Car), and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock).
 
However, with an NHRA weight ruling in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class that Koretsky said he felt would make Tonglet's chances to win another crown next to impossible, Koretsky announced following the most recent NHRA race, at Gainesville, Fla., that he would not fund Tonglet's operation. He said he might consider doing so again if what he called "this very unfair and unfortunate non-parity situation" were to change in Tonglet's favor.
 
"I believe in the abilities of LE Tonglet and his family 110 percent. To me, LE is the best rider in NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle racing. Even the best riders cannot overcome the current separation of parity that now exists [among] the three manufacturer brands in PSM," Koretsky said March 15. "But in these hard economic times, I need to be smart with my money."
 
He figured the smart money was on Dalton Millican.
 
A grateful Dalton Millican said, "When Kenny called and said he wanted to sponsor me I was really excited. Kenny has helped and supported me in various ways from the time I started motocross racing, but to step up to this level was something that totally caught me by surprise.
 
"It's now up to me to go out and represent Nitro Fish to the best of my ability,” he said. "I am very proud to bring a new sponsor to our sport. I love the ATV MX National Championship Series, and I want to see it continue to grow. The new involvement of a company like Nitro Fish is exactly the kind of participation that will fuel greater growth of our sport."
 
Dalton Millican  will compete in the highly competitive Pro Am classes this season, beginning with the stop this weekend at Washington, Ga.
 
Millican thanked other business associates, including Jeff Maxey (Maximum Cycle), Mike and Nate Walsh (Walsh Race Craft), Micah MacDonough and Adam Lambert (Custom Axis), Neil Cowman (Hoosier Racing Tire), Wayne Hinson (Hinson Racing), Jen Rath (Rath Racing), Ian Harris (SSI Decals), Jason Rueckert (VP Racing Fuels), Bob Harris (K&N Filters), Keith Parker (KPM), Dan Fisher (Lonestar Racing), Chris Harris (Fly Racing), Gary Meier (JE Pistons), Laurie Dunlap (WebCams), Larry Mills (DP Brakes), Colleen Asch (Asterisk), and Kyle Sugiyama (KG). Our success to this point is because of these individuals and companies and I can't thank them enough."