A late-night phone call in April 2008 informing him that he would be a free agent dissolved Top Fuel racer Clay Millican’s carefully constructed plans to compete in a full season of NHRA Drag Racing and make a run for the world championship. But Mark and Lauren Pickens soon stepped in and provided the necessary tools to put Millican back on the track, this time in the Hope4Sudan/Motorvation Top Fuel rail.

With the help of the Pickenses and a few others, including Nitro Fish team owner Kenny Koretsky and Lend America’s Mike Ashley, Millican returned to action in Reading and competed for the rest of the season, finishing 16th in the Full Throttle standings. This year, the Drummonds, Tenn., resident is fired up to make a run for the world championship and is utilizing every means possible to make that happen. Some may consider it a long shot — Millican has yet to finish in the top 10 in NHRA competition — but the energetic and optimistic racer sees it as an absolute possibility.

“We are starting to get our stuff together, that’s for sure,” said Millican. “We’ve put in lots of hard work and persistence, and we’ve got a group that’s been together for a lot of years. This team is a group of winners, and they always have been, and like my mama said, ‘How bad do you want it? If you want it bad enough, you can work it out.’ We just have to keep working at it. This is a great group, and I’m proud to be a part of it.”

Millican, a multi-time IHRA Top Fuel champion, has a team chock-full of experience on his side; crew chief Lance Larsen has been with Millican for four years and prior to their alliance spent 10 years working on Funny Car racer Dean Skuza’s team. Larsen is assisted by Justin Crosslin, a seven-year Clay Millican Racing veteran.

Experience aside, racing to 1,000 feet turned out to be quite a challenge for the newly restructured team, and early in the 2009 season, the struggle was evidenced by a nonqualifying effort in the single qualifying session at the rain-drenched Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals that was followed by two first-round losses.

“Man, the guys have worked really hard to figure out how to make the car run better to 1,000 feet,” said Millican. “We knew it was going to hurt, but I just didn’t know how much that shortening the racetrack up was going to hurt the way Lance ran the car. We missed Vegas earlier this year, and that was my decision because we weren’t running great. I know that with the budget we had, it was a smart thing for us to miss that race. It was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made because I’m a guy that wants to mash the gas on one of the fastest cars in the world, but it was purely a financial decision.”

Millican returned in Atlanta and suffered through three more first-round losses, but in Madison, the team began to see the light at the end of the tunnel and kicked off a string of five consecutive starts from the top half of the field. By Topeka, things were really turning around; Millican made his way to the final round for the first time since 2004.

“By the time we got to Bristol, I was pressing the panic button looking at the top 10,” said Millican. “We’ve been swapping information with Antron Brown’s Matco Tools team, and so Lance and I got together with [crew chiefs] Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald, along with our clutch guys, and looked at what we were doing. They gave us some great ideas, and then we went to Atlanta and qualified OK, but we didn’t race real well, so we made the decision to go and test. It was a day at Disneyland for me because not only did I drive our car, I made four laps in Antron’s car. We found some things, and in [Madison], we lost first round to Brandon Bernstein, but it was the perfect example of a close race. We ran pretty good, and then we went to Topeka, and everything changed. That day was phenomenal for us.”

Topeka, notorious for being a hot and sticky racetrack that makes for tricky tuning, lived up to its reputation, but Larsen had the right combination, wrenching Millican to a start from the No. 5 position and setting him up for bracket-like race-day runs of 4.05, 4.02, 4.02, and 4.05 that culminated in a runner-up finish to Larry Dixon’s 3.97 in the final. A semifinal finish at the following event in Chicago allowed Millican to break into the top 10, a position he still has a grip on and is fighting to protect.

“We made up a huge gap in the points in Topeka,” said Millican. “In Englishtown, we beat Doug Kalitta, and that was big for us because he’s No. 9 in points, and he’s one of the best drivers in the business who is rarely going to make a mistake. Antron beat Joe Hartley, and that was big for us, too, because he’s right behind us, and then we both did the same thing in Norwalk; I beat Doug, and Antron beat Joe Hartley.

“Being in the top 10 makes a big difference, especially if we can stay there through Indy when they reset the points. We’ve seen people get on a roll; look at Cruz Pedregon [2008 Funny Car world champion]. I know our team is capable of that, and I love what I get to do. Mark and Lauren Pickens are just awesome, and I want to do my best for them. It goes back to what my mama said, ‘You gotta want it.’ And I’ve learned to simply not give up, keep pushing forward, keep working on what you’re doing, and you’ll get it figured out.”

This story is copyright 2009 National Hot Rod Association. It may not be reprinted or retransmitted in any form without the express written permission of NHRA.com.

Drivers will be hard-pressed to match Grant Downing’s enthusiasm for this year’s Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway in Denver. Downing has been working around the clock to make his 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car debut, which will be aided by tuning assistance from Chuck Worsham. The tough-as-nails New Zealand transplant is downright giddy about returning to action in the Silver Fern Racing Monte Carlo.

“I’m just ecstatic, man,” said Downing. “I’ve entered Denver, Dallas, and Las Vegas so far. I might add one or two more depending on how much stuff I tear up and if I can find just a little bit of money. I’m just really excited I get to take the car out again.”

Appearing in his first NHRA event since the 2007 Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, Downing has been burning the midnight oil to finish the process of building a new chassis that features thicker tubing than his old ride to meet NHRA specifications. All the work has been done by the one-man fabrication team during night and weekend hours so as not to interfere with his day job of building Funny Cars for the Alan Johnson/Al-Anabi Racing team at Del Worsham’s shop in Orange, Calif.

“The earliest I’ve been out of the shop is 9 o’clock at night,” said Downing. “I work on Del’s stuff until 5 p.m. and then use the rest of the night and all weekend to work on my stuff. I’m getting there, but putting together a brand-new car by yourself just takes a bit of time. Since I didn’t run any NHRA races last year, I’ve had to put on the new safety-shutoff deal, the 5/16-inch valve-cover studs, the mandatory poured seats, and a custom carbon-fiber tunnel. But I’m getting there. It’s all coming along good.

“I’m finishing up my third Funny Car chassis for Alan Johnson right now. He wants to pick the chassis up at the Sonoma race, and I only have a few more little things to do on that car. I’ve stayed busy doing that, mounting bodies, and building spares. We didn’t start them until after the Charlotte race last year, so I’ve been trying to get up to speed in getting three complete Funny Cars together. There was a lot to do when you start looking at doing bodies, tin, tanks, everything.”

The excitement of trading his welding mask for a driving helmet causes Downing to laugh heartily at the end of any self-deprecating or woe-is-me tale, as if to say, “It’s all been worthwhile.” Downing, a boat builder by trade in his native New Zealand, moved to Southern California with his wife, Lynne, a registered nurse, to pursue his dream of drag racing at the highest level in the 1990s. Downing lent a hand to several alcohol and fuel teams while establishing himself as a premier chassis builder with his business, Paralax Race Cars.

Worsham was the first driver in the Professional ranks to use one of Downing’s chassis after an ill-fated attempt to build his own, and Worsham’s team later struck a deal to hire Downing as its in-house chassis builder. After Worsham parked his team at the end of 2008, Downing was kept onboard to continue building cars for the Alan Johnson/Al-Anabi Racing team. Worsham has picked up two wins thus far this season with Downing’s handiwork and netted a Best Engineered Car award at the Madison event.

Downing had a successful tenure as a hired driver for Venom Racing in the import ranks, all the while acquiring parts with which to piece together his own Funny Car. He made his debut in 2003 and competed in multiple NHRA events in every season except 2008. Though Downing achieved several of the performance milestones he sought, his attempts to qualify for eliminations have ended in heartbreak in all 11 tries.

“At the moment, there are only 15 cars entered for Denver,” Downing pointed out. “I’ve been to 11 national events and never qualified at one. I ran I-don’t-know-how-many four-second, 300-mph runs, but none of them were quite good enough to qualify. I think the lowest car count of any race I went to was 21 cars.”

Even if the event has more entries, the realistic-but-competitive Downing still likes his chances of mixing it up on Sunday. His race car is up to date, and he can rely on the tuning experience of Chuck Worsham.

“He’s really excited about going back out again,” Downing said of Chuck. “He’s been kind of jonesing, hanging around the shop. He likes his bowling and all that, but he really misses being at the races. He went to a couple races with Del, but it gets kind of boring just hanging out. This time, he gets to do something and hopefully helps get my car running a bit better.

“I’m not going there just to qualify. I’m going there to do good. Chuck has a pretty good tune-up at that track. They won the race twice [in 2002 with Worsham and 2004 with Phil Burkart Jr.]. Hopefully, Chuck remembers what he did, and he can keep it all going. We’re going to go out there and try to beat Del in the final.”

Downing, who strives to fire up his new car for the first time this week, happily accommodated the elder Worsham’s sole request for air conditioning by installing two AC units on his small trailer. The many hours he has been putting in at Worsham’s facility have been manageable due to the understanding of his wife, whose passion for the sport matches his. She has been picking up extra shifts at the hospital to get time off to go to the races, and she even surprised Downing by buying new crew shirts for their team.

How Downing stacks up against his heavily financed foes on “the Mountain” remains to be seen. However, fans at Bandimere Speedway will not be shorted the option of having a true, working-class hero to root for, and any shortcomings on the dragstrip will not be due to a lack of talent or effort.

“We’ll see what happens when we get there,” said Downing, who shifts from matter-of-fact to jubilant when the prospect of getting back behind the wheel comes up. “I can’t wait to just get out there and race! I want to go play! I want to have some fun!”

This story is copyright 2009 National Hot Rod Association. It may not be reprinted or retransmitted in any form without the express written permission of NHRA.com.

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Larry Dixon, Jack Beckman, Jason Line, and Andrew Hines collected victories at the 3rd annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park. The race was the 12th stop in the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

The victories by the Pro winners were crucial in many aspects. Dixon used his fourth win of the season in Top Fuel to move to second in the standings, and Funny Car champ Beckman moved into fourth place. Line moved up a spot as well, into third in Pro Stock, and Hines also took one step forward, into second place, behind his teammate and fellow finalist, Eddie Krawiec.

Larry Dixon

Dixon had a lot at stake in the Top Fuel final: A win would propel him into second place, and a loss would drop him to fourth behind opponent Brandon Bernstein. The race ended early, though, when Bernstein smoked the tires and watched Dixon zoom to a 3.98, 294.05 victory, the 47th of his career. Dixon remains perfect on the season with four wins in four finals.

“Four win lights at the end of the day, that’s what counts,” said Dixon. “There were certain rounds that were not pretty, but at the same time, we were the quickest car every pair. I’m just real thankful to be able to get this win. The biggest thing is that [this is] a good team, and they’re working on trying to find the personality of all the brand-new parts they have, and for me, it’s trying to find my comfort zone within the team. Being underneath one camp for a long period of time and then you switch, it’s different. It’s taken me a little while to adapt and try to fit in and hold up my end of the bargain.

“A couple middle rounds there where it spun the tires, you just try to do what you can and get a win light, and hopefully you can get up there and adjust for it and try to make a better run. From the second round on, we kept getting quicker. The track was hotter, it was the hottest all weekend. We almost got it perfect in the final. It spun a little bit downtrack, and we put a hole out, and we ran on down there. I kept waiting for that red car to go around me because it’s a strong team over there, and we’re just fortunate to get the win.”

Dixon, who started race day from the No. 1 spot for the 34th time, powered the Jason McCulloch-tuned, Alan Johnson-owned Al-Anabi dragster past Steve Chrisman, Clay Millican, and points leader Antron Brown to reach his 87th final round and third in the last four races.

Bernstein was seeking to break the longest win drought of his six-season-old Pro career. He had lost the last seven final rounds since his last win, in Brained in August 2007; here, he raced his way to his 31st Top Fuel final and second straight at this event with wins against Tom Cullinan, Troy Buff, and Chicago winner Spencer Massey.

Jack Beckman

Beckman got exactly the gift he would most like on his 43rd birthday, a final-round win, the eighth of his Funny Car career, and a move into fourth place in the standings. The win came easy after Bob Tasca III smoked the tires, but Beckman took everyone’s breath away with a scary-close .001 reaction time.

“I think it’s only on your birthday that you get away with what I got away with,” said Beckman, who battled a head cold all weekend. “I made a mistake, pure and simple. We had a good car, but we were vulnerable. As I stepped on the throttle, I was looking down at the green light as I went by, and it went green, and I went, ‘Wow, we’re still very much in this thing.’

“We’ve been sliding down in points the last couple of weeks, so it was good to go from sixth to fourth. Our goal is to be a top-five car by Indy, and, more importantly, our goal is to be consistently quick come Indy. Once the points are reset, anyone in the top five has a chance [to win the championship], and if you can hit your stride now, like we did last year heading into Denver, we’re going to be in good shape for the summer months.”

Beckman, a winner earlier this season in Atlanta, reached his third final of the year and the 15th of his Funny Car career with the Valvoline Engine Guarantee Dodge by racing his Johnny West-wrenched machine past Bob Bode, Jim Head, and Ford patriarch John Force.

ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals champ Tasca had a lot of incentive to do well because many top executives from Ford were in Norwalk to watch Tasca and his Ford Racing compatriots, three of whom made the semifinals. Tasca powered his Chris Cunningham-tuned Quick Lane/Motorcraft Mustang past Matt Hagan and fellow Ford pilots Mike Neff and Ashley Force Hood to reach the final, his second of the year. Despite her final-four loss to Tasca, Force Hood took over the points lead for the first time this season.

Jason Line

The Pro Stock final featured two former Sportsman winners each gunning for his 18th Pro Stock victory and 20th overall that would close the gap on points leader Jeg Coughlin. Line, in his first event in teammate Greg Anderson’s 2008 car, defeated Mike Edwards going away, 6.66, 207.30 to 6.74, 203.71.

“This was absolutely the biggest win for me, and it was a great time to do it,” said Line. “We’re tired of watching that yellow car win races, and we needed to get out there too. We just haven’t done a good job lately. But we’re starting to right the ship, and by Indy time, we’re going to be strong. It’s hopefully a sign of things to come for us, and it was a great day. I just can’t thank everybody at Summit enough. Summit Motorsports Park did a great job making the best out of the racetrack, and hat's off to them for going to the extra effort.

“My truck driver, Sonny McCurdy, told me a couple weeks ago, ‘Keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting.’ So we said, ‘We’ve gotta change something up here because we’ve just been terrible, and we’re a better team than that.’ It was Rob’s [Downing, crew chief] decision [to use Anderson’s old car], and it was time. There was really nothing wrong with the other car; we just couldn’t see the forest for the trees. So we made some changes, and obviously, it’s paid off for us. And it’s going to get better.”

Line upheld the honor of event and track sponsor Summit Racing Equipment by racing his Pontiac to his 38th Pro Stock final and fourth of the season. Line, who began the year with two wins at the first three races and led the points through the first four events, had fallen to fourth in the standings but used wins against Johnny Gray, Warren Johnson, and Ron Krisher to reach the final and move into third place.

Edwards, who last won in Bristol to start a streak of reaching five straight final rounds with his ART/Young Life Pontiac, advanced to his 36th Pro Stock final with victories against Justin Humphreys, K&N Horsepower Challenge champ Coughlin, and Greg Stanfield with runs of 6.65, 6.66, and 6.70. This is the fourth straight time he reached the money round only to be turned away.

Andrew Hines

Hines and Krawiec showed that all of the hard work in the Vance & Hines shop to overcome the 20-pound weight increase put on their machines three races ago has paid off; the Screamin’ Eagle Harley teammates went at it in the final after qualifying 1 and 3. It was only their second final-round meeting; the other was in Brainerd in 2007, where Hines scored the win. This one went the same way; Hines coupled a .005 light with a 7.02, 189.98 to best Krawiec’s 7.03, 190.78 and earn his 16th win. Hines’ first victory this season and first since last year’s Madison event moved him into second place in the standings.

“It’s been 19 or 20 races [since his last win], and it feels good to do it with my teammate in the other lane; it made it that much better,” said Hines, who also won here in 2007. “Eddie’s been kicking my butt lately, so I hit the Tree hard in the semifinals when I had a bye, and in the final, I figured I had nothing to lose. I hadn’t been there in a while; if I go red, I go red. I threw everything I had at it because I knew I needed something against Eddie. It’s good to finally be back on my game on the starting line.

“We’ve been able to overcome some of the weight, but it’s still going to hurt us. We were able to put the weight pretty far forward with some heavy steel brake-caliper brackets, which actually helped us with our balance and our center of gravity and 60-foot times. After that, [the weight] hurts us, and it’s always going to be there, but we feel like now we’re able to overcome it and win some races.”

Hines, who had scored his 26th low-qualifying position Saturday, reached his 28th final Sunday with a strong performance that just kept getting better. His 7.04 in round one against Mike Berry wasn’t the quickest of the frame, but his subsequent 6.99 to beat rookie of the year contender Doug Horne and a 7.03 in the semifinals on a bye run -- Matt Guidera couldn’t make the call after wounding his engine the round before -- were the quickest of the two middle frames and earned him his first final-round appearance of the season and lane choice against Krawiec.

Krawiec, the defending world champ who earned the dubious honor of becoming just the second champ to earn the season title without winning a race, has done a great job of erasing that trivia note with wins in Atlanta and Chicago earlier this year and reached his fourth final of the year and 11th of his young career by defeating Jim Underdahl, Karen Stoffer, and Angie McBride with passes of 7.03, 7.01, and 7.06.

Related stories:
Saturday: Dixon, Neff hold onto top spots; Anderson, Hines move into qualifying leads at Norwalk
Friday: Dixon, Neff, A. Johnson, Guidera first-day leaders at Norwalk event