Millican and Tuttle Working Hard for 2014 Start

FORT WORTH, Tex. (January 7, 2014) -- Ask Top Fuel driver Clay Millican what his favorite gift was this Christmas and he will proudly announce it was his sponsorship from Parts Plus. The multi-year deal was finalized on Christmas Eve, just in time to be put under the tree on Christmas morning.

The start of the 2014 NHRA Mello Yello season will mark a new era in Millican's career as he joins forces with long time team owner, Dexter Tuttle and Tuttle Motorsports. The Parts Plus deal will provide funding for Millican and the team for several years, giving Tuttle the security that comes with a multi-year contract.

"I've been wanting to get back to full-time racing for a while now," Tuttle said. "We were gearing up to run a limited schedule under the Liquid MPG banner in 2014. Now with both Parts Plus and Liquid MPG as sponsors, we will be able to run the entire tour for the next several seasons."

Officially Millican will be driving the Parts Plus/Liquid MPG Top Fuel dragster, and he is equally enthusiastic about 2014, and beyond.

"This really is a great fit all the way around," Millican said. "Once the Parts Plus folks met Dexter we all knew this was the right direction for all of us to go. I can't tell you how excited I am to see what comes next.

"Dexter and I are both cut from the same cloth," Millican continued. "He loves the sport, and has raced with sponsors, and also raced when he had to foot the bill himself. As my momma always says, you got to have the 'want to' to be successful, and Dexter certainly has the 'want to' when it comes to drag racing.

That 'want to' spirit can easily been seen by Tuttle's willingness to invest in his team even before he started talking to Millican or Parts Plus.

"I started buying new stuff last year," Tuttle said. "In fact a big reason we raced Dallas with Larry (Dixon) was to start working with our new equipment and get a head start on 2014.

"Our biggest goal has been to put the car on a diet," Tuttle continued. "We shaved 9 pounds off the rear-end, and we are dropping another 30 pounds with our new body. It also doesn't hurt that Clay is the lightest driver in the pits. We have state-of-the-art superchargers and cylinder heads from DSR, and both our Hadman chassis have been updated for 2014.

"The bottom line is I want be competitive whether I'm racing one race or the whole year," Tuttle said. "It was going to take buying the latest and greatest in order to do that."

With all the parts and pieces at the shop, now it is just a matter of time to get everything ready for pre-season testing before Pomona. The team is still adding crew members and will be working non-stop to be ready for the start of the 2014 season. For Tuttle and Millican, they hope it is a good one.

Parts Plus, Clay Millican Team Up With Tuttle Motorsports

Parts Plus has reached an agreement to remain the primary sponsor of Top Fuel driver Clay Millican for a fourth straight NHRA season, said Mike Lambert, president of the Automotive Distribution Network.

“We’re pleased to announce our continued sponsorship of Clay Millican as the Parts Plus Top Fuel team gears up for a championship run in the 2014 NHRA Mello Yello Series,” Lambert said. “Complemented by a first-rate motorsports marketing program, which includes nationwide hospitality events and promotional opportunities with our primary manufacturer partners, our ongoing partnership with Millican ensures that our Parts Plus members continue to effectively reach the end user—the professional who throws away the box.”

This year the Parts Plus Top Fuel team joined Tuttle Motorsports (TMS) as Dexter Tuttle returns to Top-Fuel Racing. “We are very happy to have Clay driving our Top Fuel car in 2014,” said Tuttle, a motorsports veteran who owns two Texas-based firms near Fort Worth. “We have all new parts we recently acquired from Don Schumacher Racing, and having a great driver in Clay Millican is a great way to return to the sport.”

“Our entire team is thrilled to be back with Parts Plus for a fourth season,” Millican said. “The support from Parts Plus and the manufacturer partners was absolutely amazing last season, and we’re focused on winning a championship as part of TMS in 2014.”

Tuttle Motorsports and Liquid MPG Enjoys Successful Top Fuel Debut

Pomona CA - The end of the 2011 season turns out to be just the beginning for the Tuttle Motorsports' Liquid MPG Top Fuel Dragster. First, former US Nationals Funny Car Champion Mike Ashley made his Top Fuel debut this past weekend at the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals in Pomona, California. And second, the recent addition of new sponsor Liquid MPG gives the team the stability it needs to compete on the NHRA Full Throttle tour in 2012.

Ashley’s Top Fuel debut was a success as he was able to qualify for the tough Auto Club Finals field after earning his Top Fuel licence just two weeks ago.

A large field of over 26 cars took a crack at the 16 car field so being able to race on Sunday was an accomplishment for even the most seasoned veterans of the class. “It was a great debut when you consider we qualified and there were 26 teams fighting to get in the show” said Ashley.

Ashley who qualified 16th with a 3.95, faced number one qualifier and eventual Champion, Del Worsham in round one. Ashley gave Worsham a tough fight all the way down Pomona’s historic quarter mile. Worsham got the advantage off the starting line but Ashley was right there with him as both cars were side-by-side until Worsham was able to pull away near the top end of the track and beat Ashley by just a car length. Worsham stopped the clock with a 3.86 at 316 MPH to Ashley’s close 3.90 at 314 MPH. Even though the Liquid MPG team lost, there was nobody on the team hanging their heads. “We gave Del a close competitive race” Ashley said.

Now, with one race under his belt as a Top Fuel driver, Ashley is optimistic about the future of the Dexter Tuttle owned Liquid MPG Top Fuel team. “I have won Indy, made the fastest run in funny car (at the time) and have won World Championships in Pro Mod. I don’t go to a race if I have no chance of winning. This team can win. Knowing Dexter’s history as a car owner and the team he has assembled it’s just a matter of time before we start winning races. The crew is made up of a good group of guys and they all work really hard”.

Prior to the event Tuttle was asked about the addition of new sponsor Liquid MPG. ”It’s one of the greatest innovations of my lifetime. It increases the mileage in both diesel and gasoline vehicles. One company that has a fleet of just over fifty trucks is saving over $50,000 a month in fuel costs“ he said.

Liquid MPG will soon be available through Matco tool distributors by the end of the year.