Championship Drag Racing

Checker-Schuck's
Kragen Nationals
Phoenix, Ariz.
(Feb. 21-24)

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Clay Millican Werner Enterprises Top Fueler

Reports: Sunday Saturday - Pre-race

Phoenix, Sunday: Clay Millican continued his consistent performance during eliminations at the 18th NHRA Checker Schuck's Kragen Nationals at Firebird International Raceway. The driver of the Werner Enterprises Top Fuel dragster advanced to the semifinals for the second time in two weeks and remained in third place in the NHRA POWERade Top Fuel points standings following the event.

Millican entered Sunday's show as the No. 10 qualifier with a 4.69 at 312 mph after making four full runs during qualifying. Werner Enterprises crew chief, Mike Kloeber, has provided Millican with one of the most consistent hot rods in Top Fuel today. The youthful Lehman Racing team continues to get stronger at each race with Kloeber at the helm.

The IHRA champ was pitted against Andrew Cowin in the first round of eliminations. Millican left first on the driver of the New York Yankees dragster with a great .483 reaction time, and he never looked back. The Werner dragster thundered to a 4.58 at 322 mph, the second best elapsed time of the round, to take the victory. Millican was traveling 269 mph at halftrack and his 322-mph speed represented his career best on the NHRA tour. His 4.58 elapsed time gave Millican lane choice over second round opponent, Doug Herbert.

It was a battle of the tool cars in the quarterfinals, where Millican continued his consistent pace with both his performance on the track and his reaction times. The Werner Enterprises driver left the starting line first against Herbert with another .483 reaction time as he trucked into the semifinals with 4.68 at 319 mph to Herbert's losing 6.21 at 138 mph. Millican was late hitting his parachute, which made for a few anxious moments, but he brought the car to safe stop before leaving the racing surface. It was a satisfying round win for the Millican and his new associate sponsor, Matco Tools.

Millican was appearing in his third consecutive NHRA semifinal round, going back to last seasons NHRA Finals in Pomona. The Werner pilot gave up lane choice to his opponent, Tony Schumacher. Both cars left together with almost identical reaction times but the Werner dragster dropped a cylinder off right off the starting line and Schumacher pulled away for the victory with a 4.71 at 310 mph to Millican's 4.80 at 310 mph.

After the race Millican explained how he conjured up such superb reaction times during eliminations. "The only thing I did differently was get eight hours sleep," Millican laughed. "I just felt very confident today. The guys on the Werner Enterprises crew work so hard to give me a consistent car and it has helped me to concentrate on my job in the cockpit. We've made 14 runs in a row without smoking the tires and that all goes back to our crew chief, Mike Kloeber. He is just so awesome when it comes to tuning this car."

The Lehman Racing team will head to Gainesville, Florida next to compete at the NHRA Gatornationals, March 14-17. The way the Werner Enterprises car has been running it is only a matter of time before Millican enjoys his first NHRA national event victory.

Phoenix, Saturday: Werner Enterprises Top Fuel driver, Clay Millican, qualified for his fourth consecutive NHRA national event at the 18th annual Checker Schuck's Kragen Nationals at Firebird International Raceway. Millican drove the Werner dragster to the No. 10 qualifying position with a 4.69 at 312 mph and will face Andrew Cowin during the first round of eliminations on Sunday.

Top Fuel qualifying for the 16-car field began on Friday under unusually warm conditions at Firebird. Millican piloted the Werner dragster to a 4.73 at 304 mph, moving into the No. 2 qualifying spot with the second best elapsed time of the round. Werner crew chief Mike Kloeber is running the Lehman Racing machine using the teams IHRA set up (25-percent blower overdrive restriction) in an attempt to conquer the warm weather and slippery racing surface.

Millican was in the last pair of Top Fuel cars to run on his second qualifying attempt Friday. The Werner dragster posted better incremental times than on the first run but the car got out of the groove near the top end and Millican lifted early, recording a 4.84 at 246 mph. Millican fell to the No. 10 position with two chances left to improve his standing on Saturday.

The weather improved slightly on Saturday with a light cloud cover providing some relief from the direct sunlight on the track. With 22 Top Fuel cars attempting to qualify for Sunday's eliminations, tuner Kloeber felt that Millican would have to improve on Friday's 4.73 to stay in the show.

Millican was in the left lane Saturday afternoon for his third qualifying attempt. The Werner dragster once again made a full pass as Millican laid down a consistent 4.76 at 305 mph, falling one spot on the Top Fuel ladder to the No. 11 position.

Team Werner saved their best qualifying effort of the weekend for their final run. Millican trucked down the right lane to a 4.69 at 312 mph to move back into the No. 10 position. The IHRA champion will square off against Andrew Cowin in the opening round with Cowin enjoying lane choice. It will be the first time the pair have met during eliminations.

Millican was pleased with the performance of the Werner dragster. "Its tough to put up the numbers like Dixon and Bernstein when we're running our IHRA set up, so we just strive for consistency," said Millican. "The Werner dragster has made 11 laps in a row without smoking the tires or breaking one of our new Goodyear blower belts, so I'm very happy. The other teams know that we are going to go down the track ever time and they'll have to out run us to beat us."

After clinching the IHRA Top Fuel championship last season, Millican and the Lehman Racing team qualified at the final two events on the NHRA tour in Las Vegas and Pomona. Millican piloted the Werner dragster to a quarterfinal finish in Las Vegas and advanced to the semifinals at the final race of the 2001 NHRA season in Pomona. The 36-year-old Tennessee-native returned to Pomona two weeks ago and qualified sixth on the way to his second NHRA semifinal appearance.

Millican, who is in his third full season of Top Fuel competition, has qualified at eight NHRA national events during his brief career. He is currently third in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Top Fuel points standings.

Phoenix, pre-race: Clay Millican continues his quest for his first NHRA Top Fuel national event victory at the 18th annual NHRA Checker Schuck's Kragen Nationals, Feb. 21-24. The driver of the Werner Enterprises dragster enters the event fresh off of a semifinal appearance at the NHRA season opening Winternationals in Pomona and currently sits third in the POWERade Drag Racing Series points standings.

Millican and the Lehman Racing team will be looking for the winner's circle at Firebird International Raceway, the 36 year-old driver's first visit to the desert facility.

Millican, competing in his third full season in Top Fuel, enjoyed a strong performance at the Winternationals, qualifying sixth with a 4.59 at 319 mph. The former forklift driver defeated Yuichi Oyama and Wyatt Radke before losing a final four battle with eventual event winner Larry Dixon. The performance at Pomona followed a successful test session at the PRO National Warm-up in Tucson two weeks earlier, where the Werner dragster made the second quickest run of the weekend, a 4.64 at 318 mph.

"We're thrilled with what we've been able to learn about the new Goodyear tires so far," Millican said from the team's shop in Tennessee. "(Crew chief) Mike Kloeber is headed in the right direction with our tune up and I feel like it's only a matter of time before we win an NHRA event. I know the Werner dragster is capable of running with anyone if we want to turn up the wick."

Millican's second consecutive NHRA semifinal finish (he reached the semifinals at the NHRA Finals last November) has established him as a legitimate contender on the NHRA tour. Now the team is thirsty for success on the NHRA tour and Firebird International Raceway could be the place where Millican breaks through for his first NHRA Top Fuel victory.