MILLICAN MAKES
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Words by Ian Tocher
Photos courtesy IHRA/Richards

lay Millican continued his winning ways at the 2nd Annual ACDelco Canadian Nationals, held July 25-27 at Toronto Motorsports Park. By defeating Bruce Litton in the Top Fuel final, Millican earned his fifth win this season and the 25th of his career, tying Don Garlits' 24-year-old record for first place on the all-time IHRA Top Fuel wins list. Also winning at TMP were Rob Atchison with his third Funny Car title of the year, Mike Castellana with his career-first Pro Mod win, and Jeff Dobbins with his first win this year in Pro Stock.

TOP FUEL

Millican paced the eight-car Top Fuel field in qualifying with a 4.805 at 278.86-mph pass, with the ever-improving Todd Paton barely edging Litton for second on the ladder with a 4.853 at 283.13 effort. Millican then beat Grant Flowers and Roger Dean to reach his third straight final-round match against Litton, who eliminated John "Doc" Sipple and Paton in the prelims.

Litton deep-staged for the final at Toronto and took the reaction time advantage over Millican for the third straight time, but Millican quickly reeled him in and posted a winning 4.707-second pass at a track record-setting 311.70 mph.

Millican first drove a Top Fueler in 1999, then went on to become IHRA's Pro Rookie of the Year in 2000 before earning back-to-back championships in 2001 and 2002 with his

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Werner Enterprises/Lehman Racing teammates. Despite his remarkable success, tying Garlits' win record obviously meant a lot to him, too.

"I never had any visions that something like this could ever take place. When Peter (Lehman) gave me the chance to drive a Top Fuel car, that was a big enough dream for me. Tying Don Garlits went beyond experiencing a dream," Millican said in victory lane. "When you can tie something that 'Big Daddy' has done, you've experienced a once-in-a-lifetime achievement. I can't say enough about my crew, even though my name is the only one to go in the record book. There should be a whole pile of names in there."