Millican Beats Foley, Cooper En Route to First IHRA Win of Season

By Joe Sherk

This certainly wasn’t what most IHRA eMax Drag Racing Series Top Fuel drivers wanted to see Sunday, but it was exactly what Clay Millican, Mike Kloeber and the Werner Enterprises/Kenny Koretsky Racing have been waiting for.

Millican was in charge all weekend on the way to his first 2006 victory, the 47th of his storied IHRA racing career and his third in a row in the CARS Motorsports Rocky Mountain Nationals at Castrol Raceway in Edmonton, Albert, Canada. The decisive victory ended a three-race non-winning run by the most dominant team in sanctioning body annals.

The popular driver from Drummonds, Tenn., began eliminations as the No. 1 qualifier (4.639 seconds at 303.64 mph) and then proceeded to oust the two drivers (Doug Foley and Rick Cooper) closest to him in his bid for a record-setting sixth straight Knoll Gas-Torco Race Fuels Top Fuel championship.

Kloeber, the crew chief who has been doggedly pursuing a consistent combination since the season opener, was on his game from the outset.

“We’ve got our mojo back,” said an elated Millican. “We made six runs here without the tire shake that has been around all year. Mike was doing what he does best – getting us down the racetrack and repeating it. That was a big,
big round win for us over Foley.”

Millican cruised to his only easy victory of the day against Chris Karamesines in the first round, 4.746 at 310.64 mph to 7.681 at 92.98 to set up his crucial semifinal match against Foley, the 2005 championship runner-up.

Millican mashed the throttle to a .060 of a second reaction time to Foley’s
.095 and never looked back. He stopped the clocks at 4.743 seconds, 306.81 mph to his rival’s 4.792 at 306.33.

Cooper left first in the title round but Millican drove around him to get the long-awaited win light, 4.773 at 306.88 to 4.838 at 304.19.

“We didn’t run as fast as we have here, but it was hotter in Edmonton than it has been for a while and the track sits at about 4,000-foot altitude,”
Millican said. “That definitely takes the power out of a car.”

Kloeber, meanwhile, said the best thing about the team’s latest performance “ is that we have made seven runs in a row, going back to our last run at Englishtown (N.J., June 18, during an NHRA event), without tire shake. I’m pretty sure we haven’t made seven runs in a row without shaking the tires all year. And that’s what I’m excited about.”

You can bet Foley, Cooper and other drivers with title aspirations are not feeling the same way.

KPK Motorsports appreciates all its sponsors. We couldn't do this without them. Our thanks to Werner Enterprises, Nitro Fish, OCC, Motel 6, Goodyear, Royal Purple, Champion, Speed Pro, Fel Pro, FRAM, Prestone, Autolite, ISC Racers Tape, Cyclo, Boninfante Clutches, American Racing Wheels, Jerry Bickel Race Cars and VHT.

Millican, Werner Enterprises Team Ready for another Win at Edmonton

Clay Millican and Mike Kloeber are the first to admit they haven’t had an IHRA eMax Drag Racing Series start like this since . . . well, forever.

In their first five seasons together, this Top Fuel dynamic duo left the competition in its rear view mirror almost immediately on the way to record-smashing performances – 46 victories, five series championships and national records in elapsed time (4.484 seconds) and speed (326.63).

Now three races into the 2006 schedule, the Werner Enterprises/Kenny Koretsky Motorsports team has not yet visited the winner’s circle.

Nevertheless, when one looks at the current Torco Racing Fuels Pro Nitro Top Fuel standings, Millican’s name heads the list. The talented team has managed to win rounds of racing while collecting 271 points. Doug Foley is second with 210 and Rick Foley is next at 207.

Increasing that margin over his closest rivals – and getting another Ironman trophy – will be foremost on Millican’s mind going into the CARS Motorsports Rocky Mountain Nationals presented by Torco Racing Fuels, June 23-25, at Castrol Raceway in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

“Edmonton is a long way from Drummonds (Tennessee, his hometown), and I really enjoy going there,” said Millican, who takes a two-race track win streak into this event. “It has been really good to us. We definitely want to get that first 2006 race win out the way.”

Indeed. He believes the familiar blue Werner Enterprises dragster will be towed into the winner’s circle one more time. “We should be able to go to Edmonton and go right down the racetrack with no problems,” said Millican.

If that happens, it will send a shiver through the rest of the Top Fuel contenders because it would mean Kloeber has a grip on the elusive tune-up he’s been looking for this year. And that is exactly what their rivals don’t want.

KPK Motorsports appreciates all its sponsors. We couldn't do this without them. Our thanks to Werner Enterprises, Nitro Fish, OCC, Motel 6, Goodyear, Royal Purple, Champion, Speed Pro, Fel Pro, FRAM, Prestone, Autolite, ISC Racers Tape, Cyclo, Boninfante Clutches, American Racing Wheels, Jerry Bickel Race Cars and VHT.