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Clay Millican goes to No. 1 for fourth time in 2019 at NHRA Sonoma Nationals

Clay Millican uses quickest lap of 2019 to take Top Fuel pole in Sonoma
27 Jul 2019
Jacob Sundstrom, NHRA National Dragster Associate Editor
Race coverage
Clay Millican

The Parts Plus / Laris Motorsports Insurance Top Fuel dragster driven by Clay Millican took pole for the fourth time in 2019. Crew chiefs Mike Kloeber and Jim Oberhofer sent Millican to his quickest pass of the 2019 season on Friday and that held up for the fourth No. 1 qualifier hat for the team chasing its first win of the season. 

Millican will receive a bye run in the first round as he looks to move up the standings with the NHRA Countdown to the Championship fast approaching. He reached the final round at the Dodge NHRA Mile-High Nationals, the last stop on tour, and the semifinals two races ago in Epping. Millican entered Sonoma in fifth place but is fewer than 50 points away from chasing down Brittany Force in second. 

"Any of these races anymore it will be very difficult," said Millican. "Looking at the ladder we will have either Brittany Force or Mike Salinas, and that's very difficult. But any of these races are difficult. It's all smiles at our pit right now though because we haven't hurt anything this weekend and we've broken a barrier by running 3.69 and once you've broken that barrier it's much easier to keep breaking more."

RELATED: TOP FUEL QUALIFYING SHEET

Defending world champion and category leader Steve Torrence enters race day in the No. 2 position with a 3.717-second pass. He is a thousandth of a second ahead of his father, Billy Torrence. Steve enters the NHRA Sonoma Nationals on a three-race winning streak with a massive lead in the points. He has won eight times in 10 finals. 

Antron Brown and Doug Kalitta round out the the top five. Brown's last win came nearly a calendar year ago at the NHRA Northwest Nationals while Kalitta picked up a win at the season-opening Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals. Brown will take on Auto Club Road to the Future Award candidate Cameron Ferre, while Kalitta has a matchup with Scott Palmer. Palmer reached the final two races ago at the NHRA New England Nationals. 

The first round of racing is set to kick off at 11 a.m. Pacific at Sonoma Raceway. You can catch the action live on NHRA.tv or by tuning into FOX at 2:30 p.m.