Clay Millican won the war Sunday when he clinched his first NHRA playoff position, but lost the
battle Monday in the opening round of the U.S. Nationals at O'Reilly Raceway Park.
Millican's Hope4Sudan/Motorvation Top Fuel dragster registered its quickest elapsed time of the
weekend, 3.916 seconds at 311.27 mph, while Larry Dixon turned on the win light in 3.855 seconds at
313.66 mph
"Well, we ran better . . . but it just wasn't quick enough," said Millican. "Obviously, it was one
of those happy-sad things. We're sad because we didn't win some round in the U.S. Nationals, but
we were extremely happy to make the Countdown to the Championship.
"We made wholesale tune-up changes Sunday night and it showed lots of promise. We're going to
continue working on the car. We'll definitely be ready when we get to Charlotte for the first
Countdown race."
Millican secured 10th place overall in the regular season when Joe Hartley, who was only three
points behind, didn't qualify Sunday.
Other stops on the Countdown schedule: Dallas, Memphis, Richmond, Va., Las Vegas and Pomona, Calif.
