Millican changed things when he set both ends of the track record at 4.609/318.09 and grabbed the No. 1 qualifier honors Saturday night before dispatching Bobby Lagana, Jr. and Bruce Litton on his way to Ironman number six this season. He cruised to the championship when Foley shook hard off the launch and had to lift.

Six of the eight drivers who qualified for the Top Fuel field receive sponsorship money from Evan Knoll's Torco Race Fuels: Zizzo, Foley, Litton, Rick Cooper, Creasy and Lagana.

PRO MOD

Mike Castellana (Westbury, NY) put a damper on Carl Spiering's big weekend when he defeated the Jordan Station, Ont. resident in the Torco Pro Mod final.

Spiering was the national event winner at the ACDelco Canadian Nationals two weeks ago, but he could not contend with Castellana and his nitrous combination in the final of the Northern Nationals.

Spiering did win the Torco Pro Stock Shootout and its $20,000 first prize Saturday evening, defeating Jim Halsey. Spiering's Corvette ran 6.192/230.65 against Halsey's Camaro's 6.234/255.26. The Pro Mod Shootout pitted the top eight Pro Mod cars ranked through a qualifying points system this season.

Castellana posted a 6.168/231.12 in the final to top Spiering, who lifted out of his run, and moved him into second place in the Torco Pro Mod points standings this season, just four points behind teammate Shannon Jenkins. He also became the first two-time Torco Pro Mod Ironman winner this season.

"It wasn't easy, but my crew put together a real good car," Castellana said. "The key thing is consistency. You have to have a good car throughout, and that's what the crew and Shannon gave me."

The big story was not who made the field, however, it was who was on the outside looking in. Top ranked Shannon Jenkins didn't make the final cut for Sunday's competition.

FUNNY CAR

Rob Atchison (London, Ont.) continued his march towards a third consecutive Funny Car World Championship when his Pontiac Firebird defeated Chris Foster's Dodge Avenger in the final Sunday. Atchison's 5.825/240.81 easily handled Foster's 6.242/198.85.

Atchison defeated rival Mark Thomas (Louisville, Ohio) in the semifinals immediately after seeing Jim Sickles, the No. 2 driver in the points standings, fall to Foster.

"We just keep going rounds," Atchison said. "It was tough and I had to keep that in my head because I had just watched Jim Sickles go out and I had my arch-rival in the other lane in the semifinals. It can be tough to focus and realize where you have to be because, at that point, I wasn't going to lose any ground in the points."