NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

As he battles for every possible point to stay ahead of Shawn Langdon and Doug Kalitta and among the elite eight to qualify for the big-bucks Pep Boys NHRA Top Fuel All-Star Callout, Clay Millican can’t help look back to last summer and wonder “What if?”

What if he hadn’t had to withdraw from the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals due to an ear infection? What if it had been him instead of replacement driver Austin Prock who earned those 78 points? 

Well, for starters, it would have given him a higher seed in the Countdown –- fifth instead of ninth -- and the points that go with that, and he could have finished sixth in the championship hunt instead of seventh, which would have earned him an extra 50 points towards qualifying for the callout. (Initial points for the Callout were set on 2021 final standings, separated in 50-point increments.)

It was a tough decision at the time to withdraw – and he had no idea the impact would extend into 2022 -- but he simply could not have completed at that event, putting himself and fellow racers in jeopardy.

“I had an ear infection in my right ear before the event and had some work done before we went to the race, but as soon as I stood on the gas I felt drunk and I knew I couldn’t do it,” he said. “We later found out that I also had a problem with my left ear -- a piece of metal, probably from grinding or cutting, had lodged itself in my eardrum and I had to go to a specialist to get that removed, but at least that explains why I felt so bad.

“I guess I could have fibbed and told [NHRA] I had COVID and gotten the points that Austin got, but that’s not how I was raised,” he joked. “That's not my style.”

The Stringer performance/Parts Plus team started 2022 by qualifying just No. 13 in Pomona, allowing both Kalitta (fifth) and Langdon (eighth) to close ground on him. Millican enters the final qualifying event in seventh place in the Callout points, just 25 points ahead of Langdon and only 60 ahead of Kalitta. Beginning with 85 points for the No. 16 qualifying berth and increasing in five-point increments through fourth place (145 points), there are a lot of ways for both to make up more ground. (No. 1 earns 175, No. 2 165, and No. 3 155).

With sixth-place Billy Torrence not competing, all three will probably pass him and it will be a duel between the trio to see who gets the final two spots. Langdon would have to qualify six spots ahead of Millican to pass him and Kalitta 12 spots ahead to pass Millican or any combination thereof (i.e., Kalitta qualifying eight spots ahead of Langdon to pass him).

All three tested well at the pre-season bash at World Horse Pass Motorsports Park, with Kalitta and Langdon both charting 3.72 bests and Millican on a similar pace on a 3.81 on a shutoff run, so qualifying should be tight.

“We intentionally never made a full run but all the runs we made, except for one where it put a hole [cylinder] out at the step, was somewhere between .72 and .76 and not trying to rip loose the starting line, just making sure it went down the track,” he said. “I like our chances. We didn’t have the best outing in Pomona, but I feel good about this weekend.”