Terry McMillen Rockingham wrap up

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

McMillen Sets Sights On 2006 Championships

November 1, 2005

Rockingham, NC - Terry McMillen and his Hoosier Thunder
Motorsports team end the 2005 season at Rockingham Dragway with high
expectations and hopes. "Unless you win the championship, you always
think that the season could have been better," said McMillen. "The same
is true for us. But, I don't think I've ever ended a season this excited
about our future."

McMillen pulled double duty during the weekend, piloting both
the Amalie Oil InstiGator, powered by TORCO Racing Fuels and the newly
unveiled Lukoil Top Fuel Dragster.

Eighteen Funny Cars made the trip to fight for one of the eight
spots available. The team made 3 valiant attempts to qualify the car
starting on a cool and brisk Friday night in the sand hills of eastern
North Carolina. The weather proved to be more trick than treat, although
the round ended with McMillen in the #7 position. Temperatures were
again expected to be below normal for Saturday's qualifying and the IHRA
responded positively by moving up each round 2 hours in the schedule.
The InstiGator made a hard charge in the afternoon attempt, but a blown
fuel line near the top end slowed the car to a respectable 5.892 ET, but
in the #9 position, just .001 seconds from the field.

Due to the adjusted cold weather schedule, the Saturday turn
around between qualifying attempts sent the Hoosier Thunder team into
the pits thrashing. "When the fuel line broke, it leaned out the motor
and left us with some damage that would require both heads to be
serviced," explained Tad "TV" Heflick, co-crew chief. The team was able
to get the car back for the evening session, but McMillen wasn't able to
improve his position. "I hate ending a season like this," added Brent
"Skinny" Lidgard, co-crew chief. "The car is better and we're better
than that."

The Amalie Oil InstiGator Funny Car finished the season 6th in
points with 2 final, 2 semi and 3 quarter final round appearances.
McMillen also set new personal best ET (5.825) and MPH (241.97) during
the 2005 campaign.

Rob Atchison (2003-2005 World Champion) won 9 out of 12 events
in dominating fashion, facing McMillen 6 times during the season.
Atchison was only stopped 3 times from winning an event - twice at the
hands of the InstiGator. "Rob and his team deserve a lot of credit,"
said McMillen. "They've been the team to beat for 3 years running."
Jokingly McMillen added, "Heck, we're responsible for 66% of his loses -
I suppose he'll be gunning for us next season!"

The Amalie Oil InstiGator was supported this season by its
partners: Amalie Oil, eRaceFuels, Flatout Gaskets, NGK Spark Plugs, MSD,
Performance Graphics, Powershield Coatings, Crane Cams, LGI Digital and
Eastern Race Fuels. McMillen will be changing rides next season but the
InstiGator will live on. "At this point, I've talked to everyone of our
partners and they are excited about moving forward with the InstiGator
Funny Car," said McMillen. "It's a very recognizable car." A driver
search has already begun and an announcement is expected sometime early
this winter.

In Top Fuel action, the much anticipated driving debut of
McMillen brought many to the starting line to see how the "Gator" could
swim in the nitormethane pool of dragsters. With Mark Oswald consulting
and under the watchful eye of Evan Knoll, the Lukoil sponsored machine
made a nice 1st pass at 5.332ET / 206.20MPH after shutting down at the
1000ft mark. "We were mixing up a few cylinders on the top end - and I
didn't want to tear anything up on the first hit, so I just clicked it
off," explained McMillen. He was qualified 6th after the first round.

In what will surely be the first of many personal best for
McMillen's top fuel career, his Saturday pass helped him to join the
300MPH club with a rousing 4.774ET at 311.05MPH. The pass helped keep
him in the fast field, on the bump spot, with room for improvement. "We
knew after that pass we had a pretty good car," explained McMillen. "The
blower belt was shredding and we lost a couple of cylinders on the top
end - we knew there was at least another tenth in that car."

The final round of qualifying had McMillen paired with Bobby
Lagana Jr. for a shot to improve his position in what would become the
fastest top fuel field in IHRA history. McMillen left first and pulled
away, enjoying a .006 lead to Lagana, before he lost the blower belt and
burst panel. Based on Lagana's incremental times- the Lukoil dragster
was on a .60's pass. "We were 259MPH at the eighth," said McMillen. "I
think one of the crew guys dropped a few XLR8 Chews in the tank - we
were certainly on a very good pass. While I was disappointed to miss
this field with all of the sponsors that we had here, it was pretty
exciting to see what our future looks like - and it's fast!"

McMillen is planning a short winter with lots of testing and
announcements. The team expects to announce the addition of a crew
chief, the location of their new race shop, testing and racing schedules
during the next several weeks.

To stay informed, visit http://hoosierthunder.com

<http://hoosierthunder.com>

###

For more information, photos or to arrange an interview:
CONTACT
Jim Walczak
615-415-7771
[ jim@squeakywheelonline.com <mailto:jim@squeakywheelonline.com>
]

Rhonda Mc Millen
[ Rtd29083@aol.com <mailto:Rtd29083@aol.com> ]

Terry Mc Millen
[ trdt29083@aol.com <mailto:trdt29083@aol.com> ]