Clay Millican’s Wild Ride

By C.J. Perry | IHRA.com

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Only Clay Millican could make jokes after the kind of wild ride he took during his semi-final run at the Dukes of Hazzard Motor City Nationals presented by GM Performance Division and brought to you by Heritage Newspapers. The four-time consecutive IHRA Top Fuel World Champion experienced a complete blow over wreck that appeared far more serious than it was.

“I’m absolutely perfect,” Millican said after being released from the hospital earlier tonight. He was transported to the hospital only as a precautionary measure. Millican was conscious and talking during the entire aftermath of his crash.

About halfway through his semi final run against Bruce Litton, Millican’s General Lee themed Top Fuel dragster almost took flight, lifting off the ground and eventually skidding to a stop upside down.

“We left the start okay, with a little tire shake, but we made it through that,” Millican said. “Then I pedaled the car. I think I stayed on the throttle too long…it was a semi final run and I had no intention of backing off.”

It was when Millican pedaled the car that his wild ride really began.

“The car lifted, and then it got higher, and at that point it was beautiful blue sky,” he said with his usual understatement. “Then there was silence, then there was a bit of a crashing sound—it was like a backwards rollercoaster ride.”

With his sense of humor intact, Millican made light of his reputation as a bit of a talker.

“I was talking to (crew chief) Mike Kloeber the whole time, not realizing that when the body left the car, it pulled the antenna away.”

The body panels exploded off the car as the dragster skidded down the strip on its back wing.

“The landing was as soft as it could be,” Millican said. “The front tires never touched the ground.”

With Millican’s car coming to a rest upside down, IHRA Track Rescue and safety officials reacted quickly to pull him out.

“The safety people were unbelievable,” Millican said. “Craig Clarke and his crew, and Howie Dalton and the rest of the IHRA officials, they were right on the spot. I just waited for the safety guys, and they said, ‘are you ready?’ and I waited for them to pull me out.”

While Millican had the ability to almost immediately joke about the crash, team owner Kenny Koretsky was a little more circumspect about the wreck.

“Thank God he’s not hurt. If not for the wing stand (when the car went end over end) the car could have been lost—it could have been a lot worse.”

While Koretsky is a relative newcomer to the Werner Top Fuel team, he has recognized one thing—the team is actually more like family.

“They’re like one big happy family. We were emotional and happy—he’s my friend. And with the death of (NHRA driver) Darrell Russel, it really hit home. Darrell was my friend, and it’s so hard watching something like that when people you care about are involved.”

With years of experience in drag racing, Koretsky has seen wrecks of that magnitude before. Watching it from the start line, he could only look on as Millican’s Hadman dragster took flight.

“I saw it bobble and hike up about three feet, and it was going to go. The panels held up, until there was too much pressure, and then they blew.”

As the car came to a rest, Koretsky’s first instinct was to get to Millican.

“It slid on the rear wing and we got lucky. I turned around to get in the truck, and it was gone. I think they (the crew) ran a 4.50 to get down there to him.”

Koretsky was on the scene as Millican got safely out of the car.

“I was there while they were putting him on the gurney,” Koretsky said. “This team has been together a long time, without any incidents. IHRA has done a good job with safety and track prep. (IHRA Director of Field Operations) Jim Weinert knows how to prep a track.”

Koretsky, who has owned the Werner team since early June after purchasing it from Peter Lehman, still saw the positive of the weekend.

“Putting the wreck aside, it was a great weekend. We want to thank IHRA for choosing us for the General Lee car with this event.”

And as for Millican, he almost always sees the positive in everything, even in a situation like what he found himself in earlier tonight.

“I was just sorry that I tore up the Captain’s car,” he said, laughing. “You know, I was going to try and get him to buy me a new Dodge Viper. I might have blown it tonight.”

Millican Crashes in Milan

Clay Millican, the four-time and defending IHRA Top Fuel champion, experienced a complete blowover in his semifinal round against Bruce Litton at the Dukes of Hazzard Motor City Nationals in Milan, Mi. Millican was traveling at over 200 miles per hour when the front wheels of his ’05 Hadman Dragster lifted off the ground at half track and did not stop. He ended up blowing all the way over and skidding well past the finish line before coming to a stop upside down.

IHRA safety personnel arrived at the scene within seconds and Millican climbed out of the car almost immediately. He was talking with the safety crew and the track doctor and was reportedly cutting up with the paramedics en route to the hospital, where he was taken as a precautionary measure.

1st Photo Sequence Taken By Roger Richards

2nd Sequence Photos Copyright Julie Sword