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2008 Year in Review - Clay Millican
The following are some of the headlines that were on the internet about our team and me. I have written some of my thoughts about what was going on at that time or what it makes me think of now.Clay Millican Confirmed Today he is a Free Agent in the Drag Racing World Again
Monday, 14 April 2008This was one of the worst things that I ever had to go through in my drag racing career. To receive a phone call saying we are done racing after we put all our eggs in one basket it was tough. My wife Donna had quit her great job in January to come to work for the race team. She had always been our security blanket and now it was all gone. Thanks to having great friends in Mark & Lauren Pickens I had hopes of getting through it. Clay Millican's Iraq Blog
Wednesday, 21 May 2008 This was a life changing experience for me. I have always supported our troops but this put it in a whole new light. I learned that we can't always believe what we hear on the news. I also know now that there are many, many young people protecting our way of life. I also made some great new friends Erica Enders, Jeremy Mayfield and Phil Burkhart. The worst thing about this trip other than missing my family was that I did not know what was happening with the race team. While I was in Iraq Mark was negotiating to purchase the assets of the team. We also just posted a copy of my blog from Iraq if you want to see what happened while I was there. Millican Racing in 2008
Friday, 30 May 2008 Clay Millican will race in 2008 as part of an operation funded by Memphis, Tenn.-based businessman and Top Sportsman racer Mark Pickens, owner and operator of Motorvation, a leading manufacturer of performance products. The above was how the story read and that was the Greatest Headline I had seen all year. The band was back together and we were fixing to hit the road again. We were now in the process of putting together a new shop and updating our race cars. Justin Crosslin and Kris Martin two of our long time crew members had faith that we would be racing again and went for a few months without a job. Now we were BACK ! This was a great time, construction work, race car work we were all just rolling right along. It was all coming together. Millican will Return in Reading
Tuesday, 12 August 2008 Mark and Mrs. Lauren had planned on returning to the NHRA Tour at Indy. One phone call from friend and former team owner Kenny Koretsky changed our plans we were headed to Reading for our first race back. Our Debut was going to be as the Nitro Fish car. This was really fun because Mark had sponsored the car when Kenny owned it now it was the other way around. The team made a quick stop in Aberdeen MS at a 1\8 mile drag strip run by a friend of the team Mr. David Glidewell. Mr. David has a very nice track and was gracious enough to let us make a few test laps before heading to Reading. Millican's Reading Finish more than he Expected
Tuesday, 19 August 2008 This is also a great looking headline. We went to Reading just wanting to make some good clean runs and just qualify. Going to the semi-finals and losing to the Army car by just .009 was a great way to return. Millican-Pickens Team Adds Backer for Indianapolis
Saturday, 23 August 2008 Lance Larsen and I received a phone call and were told after we leave Reading we needed to swing through New York. Lance and I went to see Michael Ashley at his business Lend America. This is one nice operation Michael has. When we left New York we had an agreement to have Lend America on the race Car the remainder of the year. This was good news. Hope Through Drag Racing
Tuesday, 09 September 2008To say Mrs. Lauren Pickens is a special lady is not even close to telling you how special she is. A few years back she made a trip to Sudan and took toys to the children there. Mrs. Lauren was heartbroken to find out it was not toys they wanted it was food and water. So she began Hope4Sudan. This is a project that is going in and building compounds and the compounds include schools and medical clinics and deep water wells for clean water and churches. So for the biggest race of the year we wanted to do something special for her and we had the car wrapped as the Hope4Sudan car. NHRA Carolinas Nationals - Same Day Coverage
Sunday, 14 September 2008zMax Dragway here we were racing right in the middle of Nascar country. This race track is beautiful I have never seen anything like it. It was really cool to see all the Nascar people come out and see what we do. We even had Jeremy Mayfield up on the starting when we ran. Don’t be surprised if someday you don’t see Jeremy behind the wheel of a Top Fuel car. OK let’s start the rumor now Jeremy is teaming up with MPE Motorsports to field a second car. Millican's Hometown Obligation Shines in Dallas First Round
Monday, 22 September 2008Bob Vandergriff is sponsored by UPS and since our team is located near Memphis which is home to FedEx. A little bit of hometown pride was on the line. So when our win light came on that was a bit of a feather in our cap so to speak. Millican-Pickens Open House
Tuesday, 23 September 2008 This was a really fun day after all the hard work our team put into building our new shop this was our chance to show it off. More people showed up than I ever thought would. Top Fuel Legend Preston Davis and Famed car owner Ray Godman came by along with many other famous racers like Mark Oswald. It was a great day. More open house pictures are available on CompeitionPlus.com at this address: http://gallery.competitionplus.com/main.php?g2_itemId=946830 Millican Featured TV Judge
Wednesday, 08 October 2008Rich Christensen of PINKS ALL OUT gave me the chance to Host another TV show and I jumped at the opportunity. It is called Drag Race High this program focuses on a group of students from two different San Diego high schools who are building cars to race each other. The construction comes in the auto shops at each school. My job is making sure they build them safe and judge who builds the best car. Round-by-Round Pro Results from Las Vegas
Sunday, 02 November 2008 What happens in Vegas…You know the rest. We had a great weekend in Vegas beating the Bud car in the first round was only part of the fun. Mark and Mrs. Lauren’s daughter Jessica made her first trip to Vegas and she had a good time taking in some of the shows Vegas has to offer. My wife Donna and my sister Tracey made the trip so this was a fun family race weekend. Busy Week for Clay Millican
Tuesday, 04 November 2008I spoke Wednesday morning at the YES program about driving the Top Fuel car and about Drag Race High, the television show I am hosting. We were preparing for the race that weekend and to have all the kids from Drag Race High in our pit area. There was lots of activity going on. We filmed throughout the weekend and gave the kids the opportunity to see what I do in my office. I’ve certainly been in their classroom enough this year to have an idea of what they are doing. We thought it would be a great opportunity to bring the students out to experience NHRA Drag Racing firsthand. It all went so well I would do it again in an instant. Round-by-Round Pro Results from Pomona
Sunday, 16 November 2008 For whatever reason we made qualifying more exciting than it needed to be waiting until the last run to get in. I felt the team came together and made a great run to make a very tough field. Even though we lost to Larry Dixon in the first round it was still a good weekend. From all the People around us filming for Drag Race High all the students and the special guest we had there our team held together flawlessly. Millican & Pedergon bring Championship Flavor to Speed™ Original Series Finale of Drag Race High
Wednesday, 26 November 2008 The finale of Drag Race High was unreal. You will have to tune in and see who wins but believe me it was an exciting day. I was very proud to be part of what these kids did. I am not much on typing but I wanted to give all our fans just a quick rundown of all the things that happened this past race season. There were plenty of ups and downs but like any good family we all stuck together. From the bottom of my Heart I want to Thank Mark, Mrs. Lauren, Jessica and Mark Jr. for picking us up when were down for the count. You Guy’s are the BEST !!! We are working very hard in these tough economic times to keep a top flight team out there. Our goal is to be competitive and go out and win the NHRA Championship this upcoming 2009 season. See All You Great Fans at Pomona... |
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