One race and three points separate Clay Millican from joining a select group of NHRA Top Fuel drivers in the final six races that will determine the 2009 Full Throttle Series championship.

Oh yeah, and then there's Joe Hartley, the driver who has the same aspiration as Millican and is 11th, those three points behind the popular driver from Drummonds, Tenn.

Throw in the fact the race - the 55th Mac Tools U.S. Nationals - is the most prestigious event on the 24-event schedule and you have the potential of an ulcer-creating weekend for the two competitors at Indianapolis Raceway Park, Sept. 4-7.

Just having the advantage, albeit that small, doesn't affect Millican, crew chief Lance Larsen and the LifeLockracing.com crew as they prepare for Monday's eliminations.

"The race is a marathon, that's the way I look at Indy," said Millican, who has been in the 10th spot for the last eight events. "This is the longest race of the year and the biggest race of the year. I'm just ready to get there and get with it. Everybody's talking about the top 10, which is good. I'm glad we are getting that attention and I'm hoping we can turn that into a race win.

"We've waited all these years to win one, so why not win the big one? If we can do that, the points take care of themselves and we're in."

The team's primary objectives include Millican securing his first NHRA national event victory and finishing in the top 10 for the first time. This is his second full season on the Full Throttle tour.

As for any additional pressure, Millican says he won't feel it at Indianapolis. "I don't believe anything externally can put pressure on you," he commented. "Do I get butterflies? Do I get nervous? Yes. That's usually before the first qualifying run and then before first round of eliminations. It's one of those feelings you love to hate. It gets down to what I've done a lot of times before . . . just do my job and let it happen."

The two drivers only went head-to-head twice this year, Hartley winning in Houston and Millican taking the win light in Topeka.

Both teams tested last week at ORP to fine-tune their efforts.

Larsen noted the car went down the track "on three of our six runs, we made progress in the tune-up areas, we had the low e.t. in two of the sessions, and we got down a nasty race track a couple of times. We want to run our best pass each time we go down the track. It's up to us to do a good job."

Their best time 1,000-foot time of 3.886 seconds wound up sixth overall.

Millican added that test laps also help the driver. "That was fun. I always like testing. There's no winner or loser. You are out there to make yourself better. It's an opportunity to look at the Christmas tree, step on the gas and let the car tell you what it wants and react to the car and be a test pilot.

"The majority of the hitters were there so we are at least on even par with them as far as track information goes. That will be of some benefit. It never hurts to have six runs down the race track you're fixing to go race on, either.

"We really couldn't afford to go testing but, at the same time, we feel we had no choice," Millican concluded. "We have to try and stay in the top 10 . . . and obviously Joe Hartley felt the same way because they were there testing, too.

"It's pretty much letting it all hang out starting Friday night and going for that spot."

Qualifying schedule
: Friday, 5:30 p.m.; Saturday, noon and 5:45 p.m.; Sunday, 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.; Monday, eliminations begin at 11 a.m.

TV Schedule: ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD, all times ET

Sunday, 11:30 a.m., two hours and 30 minute qualifying show; 5 p.m., two-hour qualifying show; Monday, noon, one-hour NHRA Race Day preview show; 1 p.m., five-hour eliminations show.

Courtesy of Joe Sherk