Pay Tribute to a Loved One

As you already may know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. "Pink October" as some know it. Every Year Terry McMillen wraps his Top Fuel Dragster in Pink, and the whole crew wears Pink Jerseys to pay tribute to Breast Cancer through She4Life.

This year, Terry McMillen is helping those who want to help pay tribute to She4Life by offering fans to donate $50.00. The Donation Package will include: You will be able to pay tribute to a victim of Cancer, or yourself, by getting their name or yours on Terry's Top Fuel Dragster. You'll also receive an autographed driver handout, a She4Life gift, and you will also be entered in a drawing to win a Pink Crew Jersey. One contributor will win the Pink Crew Jersey.
The deadline to get your name or your loved ones name on Terry's car is Sept 29, 2012, but Terry said it will be extended for a bit. You can always continue to donate through October and throughout the year. Thank you in advance for your donations. Please click on this link to Donate:

She4Life

To learn all about She4Life and their mission, please click on the link:

She4Life Link

Click on the link below to Donate and enter the Drawing:

Donate to She4Life

Terry McMillen/She4Life Flyer

"NHRA U.S. Mac Tools Nationals Quotes Continued"

I recently posted a blog on Live Octane on the "DRIVER THOUGHTS: NHRA MAC TOOLS U.S. NATIONALS PRESENTED BY AUTO-PLUS" and a few quotes did not get posted. So I wanted to share those that did not get posted since these drivers went out of there way and took the time to give me their quotes. I am on the road driving to California so I don't have a lot of time to write an extensive blog at this time on my journey and time at the U.S Nationals in Indy that was rained out. I will be writing another blog on that experience and the Tweet Up as soon as I get settled in CA in a few days.

The question was to the drivers is:

"What are your thoughts when you hear the words "NHRA Mac Tools U.S. Nationals"?

Ron Capps: Napa Auto Parts Dodge Charger Funny Car

"It is our frozen tundra,our yankee stadium,our Indy speedway...the racing spirits still roam that place and winning there means everything"





Clay Millican: Parts Plus Top Fuel Dragster

"As a racer I think Biggest Race of the year. The one you really want to win. Career Win. Career maker. I want to win in it.
As a team manager I think longest race of the year. More runs to make than any other all year. More hotel nights than any race all year. With all that said we at MPE Motorsports can't wait to get there."


Thank you Ron Capps and Clay Millican for helping out with these great quotes on the NHRA U.S. Mac Tools Nationals.

Nitro Twitter Group & Live Octane Join in Tweet Up!

It is that time of the year where the NHRA has it's Grand Daddy Race of the year in Indianapolis for the NHRA Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Auto-Plus. This year, is as exciting as it gets, which is the last race before the Countdown begins. There are still drivers and teams that are hoping for a great weekend to squeeze into the Top Ten. You can read all about who is in and who has a chance to be in the race to be the Champion in 2012 at my Live Octane Blog.

What I am here to tell you is that the Nitro Twitter Group and Live Octane have joined forces to a great opportunity to meet fellow NHRA Fans on twitter, and also meet NHRA drivers and crews during the U.S. Nationals.

This Tweet Up will take place on Saturday, September 1, 2012 at Terry McMillen's Hospitality after the last Nitro Qualifying Round of the evening. This should be somewhere around 8-8:30 pm. Terry has always been a strong supporter of the NTG, and is always there either for an appearance or to assist in our Tweet Ups. Terry did not hesitate to help when he was asked about having the get together at his hospitality.

We will have snacks and refreshments, and some special giveaways. Terry and his crew will be there along with TJ Zizzo, and if all works out in their schedules, Bob Tasca III, Larry Dixon, and Alexis Dejoria will be there to sign autographs and mingle with their fans. Please come by and say hi and we hope you enjoy your time at the races.

Put On the Brakes Up Coming Events

If you haven't had a chance to attend a Put On The Brakes Benefit Event, here is your chance. The opportunity to help those in need, help to get the word out, and hang with NHRA and NASCAR Drivers. Doug Herbert and B.R.A.K.E.S are sponsoring the "Take it to the Track" Golf Tournament & 5th Annual Benefit Dinner on Thursday, September 13, 2012 in Concord, NC. This will prior to the NHRA O'Reilly Auto Parts Nationals in Charlotte, NC 9/14 through 9/16 at zMax Dragway. Here is the information on the Event:

B.R.A.K.E.S WILL “GO ROUNDS” WITH NHRA STARS AT BENEFIT GOLF TOURNEY


Drag racers spend most of their time “going rounds” as they compete on the NHRA’s Full
Throttle national event schedule. But on Thursday, September 13th, prior to the running of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, NC, those same NHRA stars will be going rounds of a different kind as they join their fans on the beautiful Rocky River Golf Course adjacent to zMax for the B.R.A.K.E.S. Benefit Golf Tournament.

All NHRA fans and those looking to help support B.R.A.K.E.S. (Be Responsible and Keep Everyone Safe, a 501c3 non-profit organization) are invited to take part in this upbeat fund-raising event, offering them the chance to play side-by-side with their favorite NHRA drivers.

“This is the kind of event that benefits everyone in some way,” says B.R.A.K.E.S. founder and Top Fuel veteran Doug Herbert. “The drivers get a chance to have some fun and get to know their fans a little better; the fans have a golden opportunity to enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and the proceeds will help B.R.A.K.E.S. continue its efforts to teach young drivers safer and more conscientious driving skills.”

Many of the NHRA’s brightest stars are expected to participate with awards planned for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-place finishers, while contests for Closest To the Pin, Hole In One, and Longest Drive will also be held. Lunch will be provided and shuttle buses will be in service from the Embassy Suites Hotel and zMax Dragway to Rocky River Golf Course.

The event will conclude that evening with the 5th Annual B.R.A.K.E.S. Dinner held at the Embassy Suites Hotel. Details will be coming soon.

The Golf Tournament entry fee for a single player is $100, $400 per team with foursomes available. Professional drivers will enjoy complimentary registration.

“I hope everyone will set aside that date and come out for a great game of golf on a truly outstanding course,” adds Herbert. “We’d like to see a big turnout and find out if these racers can swing a club as well as they can get down a racetrack.”

For more information on the tournament, inquire about sponsorship opportunities, or to make a donation to B.R.A.K.E.S., call 704-720-3806 or log onto www.putonthebrakes.com

Here are some details:

Golf Tee off is at 9am, Captain Choice play.

Lunch will be served around 1pm

Dinner starts at 7pm, cocktails at 6pm

Rudy. From the movie "Rudy" Notre Dame football story will the speaker

Live silent auction with a short program.

Follow Doug Herbert:

Doug Herbert on Twitter

Doug Herbert on Facebook

Put On The Brakes

My Hiatus From NHRA Events

A lot of you are wondering why I won't be attending anymore races for the rest of 2012 season. It all hit me this weekend while attending Englishtown. So let me fill you in.

The main reason is that my son and his wife are having a baby girl this July. They are struggling right now because my son was let go at his job. With my son & wife having 2 children already, and a third on the way, I need to put aside my passion to help my family. They are my life, and my grandchildren mean the world to me. It just wouldn't feel right, if I was flying here or flying there to attend races while my kids are struggling. I will be back next year in hopes that everything works our well for my son and his family and they get back on their feet. I love you all for all caring and reaching out for my concerns. I really appreciate you all.


A Diaper Cake This was made from my Best Friend, John Wrights wife, Faith. They are putting on a baby shower for my Daughter In Law. They mean the world to me.



Secondly, I had hoped, as a dream to get into the NHRA in some sort of fashion, because I love to Promote, Market, and assist all that drag racing has to offer. I know it takes time and perseverance, but it is time I put it on the back burner for now, and do what I must do. So that is why I created another twitter account because I won't be able to do as much of what I have done in the past. This way no one will expect me to tweet a lot of what is going on within the NHRA.

God Bless you all, and I thank you for all the great memories and understanding. I hope to see you all next year and a track near you.

NHRA 4 Wide Nationals & Tweet Up in Charlotte, NC

I know I am a bit late in getting this blog out after attending the NHRA 4 Wide Nationals in Charlotte, NC. I have been so busy with work, and working on projects with one of my NTG Brothers, Greg Stephenson aka: @NHRAChat on twitter. It is all about the NHRA, so we hope to have it completed in the near future. This blog is all about the fans and those drivers who attended the Tweet Up. I am sure by now you know who won the race in Charlotte, but I'd like to congratulate the winners. Spencer Massey - TF, Robert Hight - FC, and Greg Anderson - Pro Stock.

@LDCRust, @NHRAChat, and @J88Ryan

@PriceWrightIns, @NHRAChat, and @NitroJohn

I flew into Charlotte on Friday evening 4/13/12 to attend the NHRA 4 Wide Nationals with some of my great friends. My Best Friend that I have known for 46 years, John Wright, @PriceWrightIns flew in from Ontario, California about 30 minutes before I landed. We met up at the CLT Airport, got the rental car, then headed to Texas Roadhouse in Concord to meet up with @NHRAChat, Laura-@LDCRust, and Joe Ryan-@J88Ryan. We had a such great evening getting back in touch with each other. I hated the evening to end and wish we all lived closer, but when we do get together it makes it even sweeter. We ended up getting to sleep about 1:00 am, then had an early wake up call to head to the track for the Hot Rods and Hot Cakes Breakfast put on my Doug Herbert's B.R.A.K.E.S.

@AntronBrownTF and @ClayMillican

@TerryMcMillen, @DougHerbert, @AntronBrownTF, and @ClayMillican

@AntronBrownTF and @ClayMillican

We got to zMaxDragway about 7:30 am Saturday morning, and made it to DSR Hospitality where the Hot Rods and Hot Cakes Breakfast was taking place. I was amazed to see all the drivers helping out serving the fans and giving everyone some great entertainment. Here is a link to the entertainment HotCakes & HotRods. Antron Brown and John Force were hilarious. They had us all in stitches. Doug Herbert put on a great Breakfast for the Charlotte Chapter of Speedway Children's Charities (SCC) and B.R.A.K.E.S. pancake fundraiser. I was embarrassed at on point when Clay Millican was talking and I dropped my pancakes on the floor right in front of everyone. That's ok though Clay said, there is a 5 seconds rule. Hahaha!

@Dixontopfuel, @ClayMillican, and @DougHerbert

@PutOnTheBRAKES Breakfast

Doug Kalitta and @DougHerbert

@GoGrubby

After breakfast we headed out placing our flyer's around at each of the drivers pits for our 2nd Annual Tweet up at Dave & Busters in Concord. The drivers who came to this great evening event were Terry McMillen, Doug Herbert, Hillary Will, Alexis Dejoria, Dina and Andrew Parise ( Remind me to tell you this story LOL, and Blake Alexander. We also had a Surprise guest appearance then none other then Larry Dixon himself. Let me tell you a little story about Larry Dixon at the TweetUp. This had me cracking up. All the drivers had their own Hero Cards to sign, but since Larry is not driving this year, he did not have any. He saw these JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes hand outs, and grabbed a few and used them to sign his autograph. I thought that was improvising to the fullest. Great job Larry, and thank you so much for coming to our event and spending some time with us all. Best of luck in the Future.

Larry Dixon Improvising

Matt Hines, @HillaryWill, Andrew Parise, @Dixontopfuel, Dina Parise, @DougHerbert, @Alexis Dejoria, @Blake_FC, and @TerryMcMillen

@Dixontopfuel and @LBickford11

I had the room set up for 20 people for dinner and ended up with 48 fans and drivers for dinner. It was an extraordinary Tweet Up. I can't tell you all the twitter fans that were there, so if you read this, please DM me so I can add you to the list at the bottom of the page. We started out with drinks and everyone was mingling. We took group pictures, mingled some more then at dinner. After dinner, fans got autographs from the NHRA Driver, and then we had a great Raffle. All the drivers brought hero cards to sign and a lot of great items to raffle off such as Hats, T-Shirts, Terrible Towels, Lanyards, and NASCAR Tickets. The Big Raffle was a set of 16 NASCAR Tickets to the Allstar and Coca Cola 600 Race in Charlotte for each of the race days. Janet/@JanetS67 and Chris/@Zackman1125 won that raffle and we so very happy. They help so much in promoting the drivers, teams and sponsors of the NHRA. Thank you so much to Terry McMillen and UNOH for donating those great Tickets. I also would like to give a Big THANKS to Jason Carey/@StrokerAceKid for helping put together the TweetUp. He is always there to help in any way and does a lot for the NHRA Drivers in promoting and conducting giveaways.

@NitroJohn, @NHRAChat, @JanetS67 and @Zackman1125

Tweet Up Fans and Drivers

Tweet Up Fans and Drivers

Tweet Up Party

Tweet Up Mingle

Fans and Drivers having fun

Track TweetUp on Sunday

Picture with @TerryMcMillen

Daisy with her Event shirt!

@NitroJohn @Gottogoracing Mitzi Husband, @NHRAChat @JanetS67 @Zackman1125

@Dixontopfuel and @LBickford11

So after a long day at the track and a great evening at the TweetUp, everyone said their goodbyes and rested up for Sunday's eliminations. Sunday was also a great day. We met up with Mitzi/Gottagoracing at the drivers intro with Laura. It was so nice to meet her since I missed her last year. I am afraid if we all went out partying, we'd be TROUBLE. Next year I plan on spending some time over at her camp for some Brats and Beers. I also finally met up with a great twitter friend, Marnie/@maddog202088. It was such a pleasure to meet her, and I hope next year we can all spend more time together. I bumped into Nicci Gustaves and got a few pictures with her. Let me tell you, I have met so many great people at the NHRA Tracks and on twitter. I have been so blessed with their friendship. We also took some group pictures on Sunday, and thank you all for those who came for that. You are all So Awesome.

Laura, me, and Mitzi

Laura, Greg and Mitzi

Laura, John W, and Mitzi

Myself, Nicci, and her husband

I didn't forget about Dina and Andrew Parise. After the evening at the tweet up, Andrew got a new name. It is TOG. That means the The Other Guy! LOL People were joking with them all night because Dina would kid around and say that she was the one that had to sign the autographs first, and then the other guy could sign. We had a great laugh at that. The Parise's are great people and I hope they can find funding to get back racing.

I would like to thank all the fans that made the TweetUp a Success. You all ROCK, and hope to see you next year at the Nitro Twitter Group's 3rd annual TweetUp in Concord. Most of all, I'd like to thank Doug Herbert and Dr Ginger for their help and support. Doug was a great help in keeping the night moving. I also would like to thank Terry McMillen, Hillary Will, Alexis Dejoria, Blake Alexander, and Dina & TOG Parise for their continued support for the NTG and for taking the time out of their busy schedules to spend time with their fans and attending the TweetUp. Hope to see you all there next year.

Video of Hot Rods and Hot Cakes Breakfast

Here are the links to follow these Great NHRA Drivers on Twitter:

Terry McMillen

Doug Herbert

Hillary Will

Alexis Dejoria

Blake Alexander

Dina & Andrew Parise

Tweet Up At Dave & Buster's at 4 Wide Event in Concord, NC!!

"HEADING TO THE NHRA 4 WIDE NATIONALS IN CHARLOTTE 4/13 TO 4/15?"

Just added: Funny Car Driver Alexis Dejoria.

You are all invited to attend the 2nd annual Tweet up at Dave & Buster's in the Concord Mills Mall, Saturday, April 14, 2012. We will arrive around 7:00 pm after the Nitro qualifying session at ZMAX Dragway. We will have a sit down dinner with the drivers in the main dining area, and then hang out in the game rooms, bowling, or around the bar area. Drivers will be signing autographs, taking pictures, and enjoying the evening with their fans. We had a great time last year, and looks to be a great time this year.

As you know from reading my blog on Terry McMillen, that we had a successful Tweet Up at Dave & Buster's last year. Many people came and got autographs from Terry, and hung out with us as we partied the night away!

This year we are hoping to make it bigger and a bit different. We have 3 NHRA Top Fuel Drivers who have committed to coming and 2 NHRA drivers still pending. Those NHRA Top Fuel Drivers who will be attending are Doug Herbert, Terry McMillen, Hillary Will, and Alexis Dejoria. Along with the drivers are Dr. Ginger, Cori Wickler, and Jim Walczak. Pro Stock Car Driver Erica Enders and Top Fuel Champion, Larry Dixon are still Pending. More may also attend also.

Doug Herbert

Dr. Ginger

Terry McMillen

Cori Wickler

Jim Walczak

Hillary Will

Alexis Dejoria

Qualifying times on Saturday, 4/14/12, for Nitro Cars are 12:00 noon and 3:00 pm. So with luck, they should be done by 5:00 pm. I hope to see you there.

Address to Dave and Buster's"
8361 Concord Mills
Concord, NC 28027





Guest List for dinner:
Janet @JanetS67
Chris @Zackman1125
John @NitroJohn
Greg @NHRAChat
John W @PriceWrightIns
Derrick @derrick76
Laura @LDCRust
Jason @StrokerAceKid
Terry @TerryMcMillen
Cori @Cori3516
Jim @JimWalczak
Doug @DougHerbert
Ginger @TheDrGinger
Hillary @HillaryWill
Mary @rgordon31_55
Alexis @AlexisDejoria