Fresh off his victory at the NHRA Heartland Nationals in Topeka, Kansas, Parts Plus driver Clay Millican earned back-to-back Wally trophies on June 3, winning the Route 66 Nationals in Chicago, the third NHRA national event title of his Top Fuel career and his second in the 2018 NHRA Mello Yello Series.
Millican put himself in position to win during the opening qualifying session, as the Parts Plus/Great Clips dragster stormed out of the gates, clocking a 3.753 at 326.48 mph to temporarily take command of the No. 1 qualifier spot. The Parts Plus driver finished in the No. 4 spot when qualifying concluded, and went on to eliminate Pat Dakin, Scott Palmer and Doug Kalitta to advance to the finals.
In a championship rematch from his first national-event title win on Father’s Day last year, the Parts Plus driver again outran Leah Pritchett to earn his second consecutive Wally. Officially, Millican’s 3.894 at 289.32 mph topped Pritchett’s 4.501 at 192.08.
“I can’t thank the entire Parts Plus family enough for the support, and I want to give a big shout-out to the manufacturer partners who provide the parts that power the quickest dragster on the planet – we did this together,” Millican said. “It’s very special to return to the same track where I ran my first Top Fuel event in 1998 and win 20 years later.”
Parts Plus is a brand of the Automotive Distribution Network.
