Amalie Oil Co. has announced that it has increased its investment and added a one-year extension on its contract with NHRA Top Fuel driver Terry McMillen. The new agreement will keep McMIllen and Amalie partnered through the 2013 NHRA season and mark the 13th year of Amalie’s marketing partnership with McMillen and his Elkhart, Ind.-based team.

“We’re proud of our relationship with Terry McMillen and the work he does for our company,” said Dennis Madden, Amalie senior vice president of sales and marketing. “Terry not only helps us reach our domestic distributors but our international distributors as well. We can’t think of a better way to showcase the quality of Amalie Oil than through NHRA Top Fuel Drag Racing.”

McMillen, who reset his personal-best elapsed time and speed records during the 2011 campaign, believes that Amalie’s continued commitment will help his team grow.

“I’ve never felt more energized than I do right now,” McMillen said as his team prepares for a test session Jan. 20-21. “With the additional support from Amalie and our other marketing partners, we’re going to have the opportunity to make some significant changes to our team, changes that we think can make us a more competitive car week in and week out over the course of the NHRA Full Throttle schedule.”

The additional funding will be put to use right away with more full-time crewmembers and a consultant. “I’ve always felt like we had a solid core group of crewmembers,” McMillen said. “This will give us the opportunity to give them some help in the form of additional full-time staff.

“We’ve been coming up with a game plan and going over things at the shop. Hopefully this will be our breakout year.”
 
The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season kicks off Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries. Click here to get your tickets.