Clay Millican has often joked that his eight official NHRA Top Fuel victories only scratch the surface of his success. “I’ve got 59 Top Fuel wins in my mind,” he quips, referring to his dominant days in the IHRA. But no matter the total, he’s quick to admit how special it feels to conquer the iconic Winternationals at Pomona, often considered drag racing’s equivalent of a golf major.
Pedal Job in Round One
“I was telling folks, ‘Pomona is going to be a throwdown—super cool air, fast conditions,’” Millican recalls. Yet his opening round turned into an old-school throwback. “I get out there, the car shakes, and I do what came naturally from my earlier days. I whack the throttle. Next thing I know, it just hooks up and goes. It still ran 3.87, and my crew chief actually shut me off early. That’s nearly unheard of with modern Top Fuel tires. Usually, a tire shake means your day’s over. Not this time.”
He walked back into the pit lounge, grinning about the pedal job. “I’m thinking, ‘Yeah, I just did that!’ And [co-crew chief] Nicky Boninfante looks at me and goes, ‘I’ve seen that movie before—just from the other side trying to beat you!’ He’d tuned Bruce Litton against me a bunch in IHRA. He was glad to finally have that on his side.”
A Personal Redemption
Next came a second-round matchup with Jasmine Salinas, who’d beaten Millican in Phoenix. “I told the team, ‘That was on me. I’ve got to be better.’ Even though on paper I didn’t lose on a holeshot, in my heart, that’s what happened,” he says. “This time, I moved first, and we won by fourteen-thousandths. That felt good. Jasmine’s no joke; she’s going to be around a while.”
The Tony Stewart Factor
A semifinal victory over No. 1 qualifier Brittany Force set up one of the most talked-about final rounds of the year: Clay Millican versus Tony Stewart. “Tony’s a motorsports icon,” Millican says. “NASCAR champion, team owner, you name it. And I happen to drive for another NASCAR owner, Rick Ware. So there’s some fun underlying rivalry there, too—Rick’s joked that Tony’s beat him in about everything. I wanted to get this one for my boss.”
That final round carried extra stakes for Millican, who remembered meeting Stewart months before in the Charlotte Motor Speedway motorhome lot. “I introduced myself, and he’s like, ‘I know who you are.’ But what floored me was how he said, ‘My head’s not leaving the starting line—these cars accelerate so fast!’ I respected him right then for recognizing that Top Fuel dragsters are a completely different animal.”
“Jim O” Spins Around
Before the final, co-crew chief Jim Oberhofer—“Jim O”—delivered a moment Millican says he’ll never forget. “Jim O’s looking at the squiggly lines on his computer, doing his thing. He spins around on that office chair and looks me straight on. ‘Three things can happen here,’ he says. ‘We’re tuned up, so we’re either going to haul ass, blow it up, or be a footnote in history as Tony Stewart’s first final-round victim.’ Then he swivels back without another word!”
Millican laughs, recalling it. “It’s hilarious and nerve-wracking all at once. But Jim O doesn’t pull punches—he wants me to know exactly what we’re up against. I’m thinking, ‘Man, I’m not trying to be a footnote here!’”
A Dramatic Conclusion
When the tree dropped, Millican was away clean, and the dragster roared. “I knew I caught it decent,” he says. “The car made it through that tricky tire-shake zone, and then—kaboom! It felt like a bomb went off in my lap. The engine let go, and I’m stretching my HANS device to see if Tony’s charging past me. But I’m never lifting. I’ve got the pedal mashed, even though I’m basically coasting at that point because we’d blown it up.”
Miraculously, the win light still came on in Millican’s lane. “That might’ve been the slowest top-end hundred feet of my life,” he jokes. “But I saw the bulb flashing on my side, and I just went nuts. I can’t believe it happened, especially against Tony Stewart in his first final.”
Rick Ware, Arby’s & the Year Ahead
For Millican and the Rick Ware Racing team, the Winternationals triumph is more than just another trophy—especially with non-automotive sponsors like Arby’s coming on board. “That’s huge,” Millican says. “I’ve told people, if Arby’s sees value in NHRA drag racing, maybe more mainstream brands jump in. It’s a win for all of us.
“And Rick Ware—he’s a busy man. He’s got NASCAR, IndyCar, American Flat Track bikes. So to deliver a Wally for him at such a big event, and to do it beating Tony Stewart—that felt good. It’s like we’re showing the entire racing world that Top Fuel belongs on the radar.”
Looking Back While Moving Forward
It’s not lost on Millican that, for many years, he dominated in IHRA but came up short in NHRA finals. That changed in 2017 on Father’s Day in Bristol, and now he’s stacking wins, including this major Pomona milestone. “Yeah, I used to hear, ‘When’s Clay gonna break through in the NHRA?’ and it took forever. Now we’re winning these iconic races. For me, that’s all the motivation I need to keep stepping on that loud pedal.”
In typical Clay Millican fashion, he’s already thinking about the next round of competition. “We’ve got two championships up for grabs this year—regular season and Countdown. We’ve got a great shot at both,” he says. “But right now, I’m just savoring that Pomona win. I’ll never forget Jim O spinning around in that chair, telling me I might be a footnote in history. Turns out, Tony’s gonna have to wait a little longer. And I’m OK with that.”
This story was originally published on April 3, 2025. 
