Top Fuel’s Millican and Pro Stock’s Hartford Begin 2019 Season for the Straightline Strategy Group With a Big Step in the Right Direction

POMONA, CA – Clay Millican and Matt Hartford begin the 2019 season with strong qualifying efforts. With multiple obstacles throughout the weekend, including a cold tricky track and weather delays, the Straightline Strategy Group (SSG) teams prevailed with great ET’s and close race matches.

Clay Millican, driver of the Parts Plus/Strutmasters.com Top Fuel dragster, celebrated his birthday weekend in style with a 10th qualifying position with a posted time of 3.759 ET. The Mike Kloeber lead team lined up against Mike Salinas Sunday morning for the last pair of Top Fuel in the first round. As they were about to spin the motors over on the starting line, rain began to sprinkle. The rain had not ceased the rest of Sunday, forcing NHRA to postpone the rest of eliminations on Monday at 10 am.

With a sunny, but chilly Monday morning, Millican left the starting line first, but shook the tires. With a perfect quick pedal job, he could not catch up to Salinas’s 3.68 ET effort.

Although an early exit, the team accomplished many goals with a fresh, new crew. With Kloeber, Jim Oberhoffer, and Jack Wyatt at the leadership, the team rolls onto to Phoenix with the first race of the year under their belts.

“I am so proud of the people working on our team,” says Millican. “Considering all the work that we had to do during the off-season it is very impressive. I am very excited to be reunited with Kloeber again and how could you not be happy to work with Oberhoffer and Wyatt.”

Matt Hartford, driver of the Total Seal Piston Rings Pro Stock car, matched his Top Fuel teammate with a 10th qualified position with a posted time of 6.560 ET. During Monday eliminations, Hartford was first off the line against Kenny Delco and never saw him. Round 2 he matched up with Erica Enders, but Enders took the win.

With the formation of the SSG alliance, the teams are off to a great start for the 2019 NHRA season. Both teams are preparing for the second race of the year, the Magic Dry Organic Absorbent NHRA Arizona Nationals, in two weeks.