Terry McMillen (1 Viewer)

[Nick]

Ok, I've been meaning to bring this up for a while now, so here it goes. After several years of pretty much the same lack luster performance, Terry McMillen still continues with the same basic program with the same crew chief. Now, not qualifying for his sponsors race, just nails home the point that he needs to make a change. I'm just wondering when that will happen. I love his energy and presence on the track, but honestly, seeing him blow up and smoke the tires is getting old. I'm sure he feels the same way too. With many Pro Teams, this performance would be met with firings, crew changes etc etc.

 

[mick]

terry did go 3.86/smoked tires/3.83/3.80 in pomona qualifying 11th, lost 1st rnd.
since i think his best is a 4.16 @ phoenix qualifying 15th, lost 1st rnd.
this year he went 4.31 for 18th spot @ gainesville out of 19 entries
last year he went 4.00 for 18th spot @ same race out of 23 entries

i'm pullin' for him, hope he improves.

 

[Nick]

I'm definitely pulling for him as well, I just would like to see better performance considering they appear to have proper funding and are a great presence at the track.

 

[Jer]

Id like to see them in the top 10,seem like good people!!

 

[you]

I think he DNQ'd last year in Gainesville as well. Hope he turns it around.

 

[Just Paul]

I don't think the funding is all what it appears to be. I'd bet it's a fraction of most teams. Also, Richard Hartman has his own chassis shop up and running aside from the TF car. It's not like he's back at the shop running clutch and blower dynos. (no dynos period)

If you are going to play, you need to run in the mid 70's to win, and low 80's just to be in the show when the weather is good. Yeah, you can show up and run 3.87 and 3.85 every week, but that only gets you so far. I think going from that consistent 3.85 car to a 3.79 car is a huge step. A team like McMillen, that we have all seen struggle over the years, sees the top teams running the big heads, latest clutch stuff, and all that, thinks they need to run all that stuff too, and get more lost then they already were.

Look at Dote Racing last year. They started out with a nice 3.82-3.85 program, tried to step it up, and left a trail of parts across the country going for it. 2014 they seem to be back on track, and dipped into the 70's. I'd be pretty proud if I were them so far. Dexters team has all the latest trick sh!t from DSR, and they can't get it to run on all 8 without burning it up half the time. It's not so easy.

 

[turbo ken]

I don't think the funding is all what it appears to be. I'd bet it's a fraction of most teams.

X2 ^^^^

It's more than likely pocket change compared to the $$ Castrol shells out.

 

[you]

I don't think the funding is all what it appears to be. I'd bet it's a fraction of most teams.....

Amalie: "Terry, we're not very happy about your performance and not qualifying for the very race we sponsor."
Terry: "Well....ya get what ya pay for."
Amalie: "See ya in Vegas."

 

[parrotwhisperer]

On the budget, Beard said it was not enough to run a car. Questions?
On the chassis, they are all built out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same - NOT. In an effort to step up, the team bought a chassis from Morgan Lucas. Had run a McKinney for several years. Motor height/out/angle the same? Driver location/out/weight the same? Design/weight transfer etc the same? If you think the answer to all is yes then why wasn't Morgan running a Murf? Is it reasonable to think the transition could take some runs? Yup.
Testing - Not. That damn budget again.
Trick of the week parts - Not.
These guys love to race. They are doing the best they can with what they have to work with. They have the Morgan chassis to an 80 flat so far - best ever. Tip the hat. They cannot run it so hard they trash everything on every run. About all they ever trash is from parts breakage. AJ can waste it and say oh well, that didn't work. Not so here.
You might consider giving Richard and the team some slack. Amalie is getting a pretty good bang for the buck they put in and I think they know it. You haven't seen the Don try to jump on the Amalie deal or bring it into his fold! That says something.

 

[Nick]

Steve, Phillip & Paul...thanks for the input. This was exactly the kind of info I wanted to hear. Perspective is what I was searching for and I go it for sure.

You get what you pay for sums it up pretty much.

 

[Butch]

BUT Dave use to say Amalie Motor Oil Better than it has to be.

Thanks for the insider info. LOL

 

[Toejam]

I don't think the funding is all what it appears to be. I'd bet it's a fraction of most teams. Also, Richard Hartman has his own chassis shop up and running aside from the TF car. It's not like he's back at the shop running clutch and blower dynos. (no dynos period)

If you are going to play, you need to run in the mid 70's to win, and low 80's just to be in the show when the weather is good. Yeah, you can show up and run 3.87 and 3.85 every week, but that only gets you so far. I think going from that consistent 3.85 car to a 3.79 car is a huge step. A team like McMillen, that we have all seen struggle over the years, sees the top teams running the big heads, latest clutch stuff, and all that, thinks they need to run all that stuff too, and get more lost then they already were.

Look at Dote Racing last year. They started out with a nice 3.82-3.85 program, tried to step it up, and left a trail of parts across the country going for it. 2014 they seem to be back on track, and dipped into the 70's. I'd be pretty proud if I were them so far. Dexters team has all the latest trick sh!t from DSR, and they can't get it to run on all 8 without burning it up half the time. It's not so easy.

I think a lot of people see a sponsored team going to every race and assume they get $3 mil. A year, I'm betting most don't. Including Terry Mac!

 

[I was NITRO BREATH]

with all respect to Terry and richard hartman -- i never expect anything good out of them. its like they are always deep in the background. if they ever won a race i would be shocked. low budget yes, but maybe too low?? if you are going to run the entire tour then maybe you want enough money to play with the big boys and go some rounds in at least half the races. but to dnq a couple of times a season and go out in first round on a consistent basis.... ???

 

[Professional Fan]

I don't understand all the criticism of Terry and his team. I'm way less knowledgeable about cars than most on this board. But it seems to me that the key to being successful in NHRA is budget. It doesn't guarantee success but it allows you to hire the best people and have the best parts. Not everyone has the budget of Schumacher, Kalitta or Force. Thus, you end up with several tiers of guys. The top guys like Force and Schumacher. The next group like Wilk, Head who can run with the best but not every run. Then the guys out there because of their love of the sport without much budget like Chrisman, Palmer, Haddock, Diehl, Faria. I think Terry fits somewhere in the low end of the Wilk/Head group. But what I see is a guy who appears to be a nice guy, has a lot of enthusiasm and a group of guys who are working their butts off to do the best they can. I'm happy for him as he seems to enjoy being out there and I get a kick out of his enthusiasm when they run a low 80.

 

[Treeshaker]

We all have dreams, a bucket list per se, of things we want to do in life but only a few act upon their dreams and make them come true. The rest of us just continue making a list of excuses why we can't make it happen for ourselves, along with pointing fingers at those that are living their dreams but aren't living up to OUR expectations of how WE feel they should be preforming.

From personal experience I know exactly what it takes to field a nitro team on the full NHRA race circuit, big or small budget. I commend these guys for being able to be at every race and make every run they are scheduled to make. Yeah, they would like to qualify better and win more rounds, and be relevant in the championship race, but the stars haven't aligned for them yet to make this a reality.

It takes a whole team to do everything correctly to make a successful run, and to string a series of runs together takes a lot of dedication, attention to detail and luck. On the other side, it only takes one person to make an error to ruin a run, whether it is the driver, crew chief, head, clutch, bottom end, blower guys, or even the guy that sets the air pressure in the tires before a run. Until you have been deeply involved with a big show nitro car of TODAY, I think it would be very hard for you to understand how really complex they have become and how easily it is to be on the wrong side of the curve on any part of the car and ruin a run.

The Amalie team has/are paying the price to live their dreams, working hard to overcome situations that has created sub par runs, and may surprise many in the future.

 

[cephus]

dang I wuld b glad just to get to qualify and b there, if Terry wasn't there it wuld just make it more of a JFR and Shoe racing show and that sux even more

 

[mick]

everybody always says 'what if the four big multi-car teams pulled out!?, the sport would fold immediately'
no it wouldn't; there would be more independents showing up / starting up and it would be a breathe
of fresh air....the show would be better....more real rivalries would exist....multi-car teams should have
been limited to 2 cars many years ago.

 

[Nick]

Thanks Mr. Hartman for your input and insight. I by no means am criticizing the Amalie team, as a matter of fact, I commend them for the hard work they put in....including Richard. I would just like to see, simply as a fan, more success for them. I'm sure they want it as well.

 

[JC]

I'm sure Terry is very frustrated but with these multi-car teams now dominating, Terry should think about jumping onboard with a two-three car team to keep his career alive.. Sucks it's gotten to be like that in NHRA pro ranks but the single team cars are almost lucky to qualify. Also he needs to find a new pair of shades to wear when he gets tv time!!!!

 

[I was NITRO BREATH]

i agree that nobody is criticizing terry. its more like we want him to do better but dont understand the ideology behind his efforts. if you are going to raise a certain amount of money to go top fuel racing it would seem to my amateur mind that you would want to have enough to rise at least into the middle of the field [like vandergriff or wilk] why stay mired on the bottom losing so many first rounds ??? yes there are many racers that show up for a few races a year and race for the love of it. and there is jim dunn who seems to be a little of a hybrid of both schools. and then there is the mystery of tony ped. who seems to have slipped off the side of the earth. is it money or crew chief/crew problems??
but terry is a full time racer. amalie is getting their name out there but maybe for a little more they could get a bigger bang ?? and terry could have more success?? im just asking. i dont have the slightest idea of the economics of drag racing.