Millican Nominated for AARWBA Drag Racing Award

NORWALK, Ohio (November 27, 2006) – Voting has begun among more than 300 members of the motorsports press to select the 2006 Auto Racing All-America team. IHRA’s six-time Knoll Gas – Torco Racing Fuels Pro Nitro Top Fuel world champion Clay Millican is among the drag racing nominees.

The annual vote is conducted among the membership of the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association. Two nominees from each of seven categories will be named to the first team, to be honored at the annual AARWBA banquet Jan. 13 in Indianapolis. The winner of the Jerry Titus Award will also be announced at the banquet. The Titus Award honors the team's top driver -- the one earning the most votes in the balloting regardless of category.

The balloting will also determine a second team of the drivers placing third and fourth in each category, and honorable mentions to all other drivers receiving at least 5 percent of the vote. AARWBA members have annually chosen an All-America Auto Racing Team since 1970.

The banquet is open to the public. Ticket information is available from AARWBA, 922 N. Pass Ave., Burbank, Calif. 91505, or call (818) 842-7005.

The drivers listed below are on the 2006 All-America ballot. In endurance road racing, teammates sharing the same car are nominated as a single entity. Numbers in parentheses indicate previous times elected to first team/second team/honorable mention; *** indicates first time on ballot.

DRAG RACING John Force (13/1/0) – NHRA Funny Car champion for record 14th time, three wins Robert Hight (***) – Second in NHRA Funny Car, three wins Doug Kalitta (0/1/1) – Second in NHRA Top Fuel, five wins Jason Line (***) – NHRA Pro Stock champion, four wins Clay Millican (0/2/3) – IHRA Top Fuel champ (sixth straight), four wins Tony Schumacher (3/0/0) – NHRA Top Fuel champion (third straight), five wins OPEN WHEEL A.J. Allmendinger (1/0/0) – Third in Champ Car, five wins Sébastien Bourdais (2/0/1) – Champ Car champion, seven wins Helio Castroneves (0/2/0) – Third in IndyCar, four wins Sam Hornish (2/1/1) – IndyCar champion, four wins including Indy 500 Dan Wheldon (1/1/0) –Second in IndyCar, two wins, also won Rolex 24 at Daytona Justin Wilson (***) – Second in Champ Car, one win STOCK CAR Denny Hamlin (***) – Nextel Cup Rookie of the Year, third in points, two wins; fourth in Busch points, two wins Kevin Harvick (1/0/1) – Busch Series champion, nine wins; fourth in Nextel Cup, five wins Jimmie Johnson (2/1/1) – Nextel Cup champion, five wins including Daytona 500, Brickyard 400 Kasey Kahne (0/2/0) – Eighth in Nextel Cup, six wins (most in the series), two Busch wins Matt Kenseth (1/0/1) – Second in Nextel Cup, four wins, three Busch wins Tony Stewart (8/0/0) – Top non-Chase driver, five wins, one Busch win, IROC champion with two wins

ROAD RACING Max Angelelli (1/0/0) – Third place Grand-Am Daytona Prototypes, one win Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin (0/3/0 - 0/1/0) – ALMS GT1 champions, four wins, Le Mans class winner Jörg Bergmeister (1/0/0) – Grand-Am Daytona Prototype champion, three wins; ALMS GT2 champion three wins Colin Braun (***) – fourth place Grand-Am Daytona Prototypes, two wins (missed three races) Rinaldo Capello/Allan McNish (*** - 1/0/0) – ALMS P1 champions, record eight wins Scott Pruett/Luis Diaz (7/1/1 - 1/0/0) – Second in Grand-Am Daytona Prototypes, five wins

SHORT TRACK Jerry Coons Jr. (***) – Points leader, USAC National Midgets, three wins (one race left), two USAC Sprint wins Bud Kaeding (***) – USAC Silver Crown champion, three wins, one USAC Sprint win Danny Lasoski (1/2/0) – National Sprint Tour champion, 10 wins, two World of Outlaws wins Tim McCreadie (***) – World of Outlaws late Models champion, two wins, also won Chili Bowl midget race Donny Schatz (***) – World of Outlaws champion, 17 wins, also won Knoxville Nationals Josh Wise (0/1/0) – USAC Sprint Car champion, 4 wins; second place USAC Midgets, two wins, sixth USAC Silver Crown, one win TOURING SERIES Todd Bodine (***) – NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, three wins Benny Gordon (***) – USAR Northern Champion, five wins; second in championship series, 1 win Eric Holmes (***) – NASCAR AutoZone West champion, 1 win; second (by 1 point) in NASCAR Southwest, 3 wins Frank Kimmel (2/1/4) – Won eighth ARCA championship (seven in a row), four wins Mike Olsen (***) – NASCAR Busch East Series champion, 2 wins Clay Rogers (***) – USAR Hooters Pro Cup champion, 3 wins; USAR Southern champion, 3 wins

AT LARGE Troy Herbst (0/1/0) – SCORE Desert Series overall and Class 1 champion, four wins J.R. Hildebrand (***) – Cooper Tires Formula Ford 2000 champion, 12 wins Andy Lally/Marc Bunting (*** - ***) Grand-Am Rolex Series GT champions, 5 wins Frank Manzo (1/1/1) – NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car champion (his 10th), 6 wins; NHRA Div. 1 TAFC champion, 4 wins Travis Pastrana (***) – Rally America champion, 2 wins; also won X Games Rally, one U.S. Rally Championship win Carl Renezeder (0/0/1) – Champion CORR Pro 2, runner-up CORR Pro 4, 10 wins