NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Clay Millican isn’t planning on changing his primary job as a Top Fuel driver anytime soon, but as of late, the veteran hasn’t minded picking up some additional duties.

Millican has thoroughly enjoyed expanding into the world of content creation, bringing new eyes — and sponsors — to the sport as his YouTube page has steadily grown.

He jumped into the video world as a way to keep busy during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, but it’s now become a way of life for Millican. It’s all done on his cellphone, and he creates everything through an app on his phone, but it’s allowed Millican to give fans a memorable glimpse behind the curtain.

“It’s just the next way of reaching new fans and existing fans, too,” Millican said. “With existing fans, you always want to keep them informed of what’s going on, but the new fans we’ve been able to attract have been amazing. You dig through some of the comments where people say they’ve never watched drag racing before and now they are. It’s been amazing.”

Millican aims to upload a couple of videos per week — and he does all the work himself — providing incredible behind-the-scenes footage with his team, as well as adventures throughout the racing world.

He’s worked with some big names in the YouTube world, while a video 1320Video put together with Millican using footage from the Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona has already amassed nearly 600,000 views on YouTube in two weeks.

It’s also had an affect on the rest of the team.

“[Crew chief] Mike Kloeber said he can’t go anywhere without someone saying to him that they love what we’re doing,” Millican said. “He hears it everywhere, and I know I’m having a blast.”

What’s been vital for Millican’s success is the unparalleled access he’s given fans. Kloeber is an open book with what he discusses on video and what Millican includes, and that’s been a key part in his videos drawing tens of thousands of views.

It’s had a positive effect with race partners, too, as his longtime sponsors have noticed the uptick in brand awareness, not only for Millican but for their company as well. Millican believes a new sponsor should be coming soon, with all parties agreeing his consistent racing content on YouTube has played a big part.

“My team and my crew, we don’t hide anything from the fans,” Millican said. “The race weekend videos are what fans to see the most, and we show them everything with the exception of a couple of things. It’s been unbelievable and the fans really enjoy seeing all of it.

“There’s a lot of value to the fans, but also to current sponsors and potential sponsors. It’s one more thing where you can bring value to your program. It has helped our program for sure, I enjoy it, and we’re going to keep reaping the benefits of it.”

Millican has been gathering plenty of offseason content as the team forges forward heading into the 2022 Top Fuel season. 

The team will be at the upcoming test session in Phoenix — which is also an ideal event to gather more video — and Millican is excited about the potential from a team that returns most of its key parts from a season ago. 

He finished eighth in points and advanced to two final rounds, but the goal is grabbing victories in what should be a wild year in the Top Fuel ranks.

“I am definitely ready to go,” Millican said. “We’ve still got a ton of work to do, but I’m pumped up. We had some opportunities to win this past year, so we know we’ve got a good car. There’s been tons of changes and one of the wildest Silly Seasons ever in Top Fuel, so it is going to be an unbelievable year.”