Drag Illustrated Issue 117, January 2017 | Page 74

THE CHAMPIONS ISSUE

GOING FOR THE GOLD

With the NMCA Radial Wars championship and elusive No Mercy win under his belt , Mills is focused now more than ever on collecting big trophies and laying down even bigger numbers . His next goal towards becoming “ the baddest man on drag radials ” is recording the class ’ first 3.6-second run . the race itself ,” he confessed . “ You can tell people ‘ sorry about your cancer ’ but when they tell you that you have it , it ’ s eye-opening . I had a lot of sleepless nights worrying about it , but I made it through .”

Being faced with his own mortality at such a young age made Mills appreciate the little things in life a lot more . “ You have to live each day like it ’ s your last and be thankful for the time that you have ,” he preached . Ironically , it wasn ’ t the first time that Mills had a medical brush with death . “ Back in 2000 , I found out I was allergic to peanuts and had a few major reactions . But when you ’ ve got God on your side , there ’ s nothing that can go wrong . You might have some test and a bumpy road along the way , but as long as you keep your faith , you ’ ll be good .” It ’ s that strong commitment to his faith that ’ s helped him to get through the ups and downs of life , and of racing . Every Sunday morning without fail , Mills can be found at church – even when he ’ s at the track .

Similarly , the driver of the “ Golden Gorilla ” prides himself on sticking to the “ Golden Rule ”. “ In the ‘ 80s , Scotty Cannon signed a shirt for me and it was really special and inspired me to do the same for every kid I can ,” said the driver who doubles as a goodwill ambassador for the sport . “ When we ’ re at the track , we hand out kids ’ t-shirts and want to take care of them . If we can make a good impression on them to keep this sport going , or convince them to stay in school and work hard and stay out of trouble , then what ’ s what we ’ re going to do to make this sport even greater than it already is .” He regularly opens his pit area , as well as his winner ’ s circle photo opportunities , to the littlest of horsepower heroes and jokes that most of his fan base is made up of children .

In a sport where everyone ’ s constantly trying to one-up each other , it ’ s Mills ’ s genuine and caring personality that makes him so likeable , and so well-respected . His success is welcomed ( and celebrated by his peers ) and there are no grudges to be held when he shatters a new record .

Although Mills made history in 2014 with his 4.10-second pass , he now regularly runs in the 3.80s . He was the first turbo entry to run in the 3.70s when he ran 3.799 at 206.45 mph in mid-July at Gateway Motorsports Park during the PSCA ’ s “ Rage by the River ” race and has run 212 mph with a best 60-foot time of 1.05-seconds . It ’ s taken a lot of testing and hundreds of laps to get where he is today , and Mills isn ’ t afraid to work hard to achieve his goals .

Now , Mills is determined to be the first to crack into the 3.6-second zone on radials . To do so , he ’ s working on a new combination – a Pro Line Racing Hemi engine that he hopes to have out for the U . S . Nationals race in Bradenton , Florida , in late January . It ’ s all a numbers game , and Mills is confident he ’ s got the math to make it work .

“ The Hemi cars have better back splits than what we ’ ve got by two or three numbers . We went a 4.76 so take a few off and there ’ s a . 73 . Then , if I pick up the 60-foot and go one-second flat , there ’ s three more numbers for our . 70 . If I can pick one number up in the middle , that ’ ll be a . 69 ,” he extrapolated of his hypothetical formula . “ I told Tim [ Davis ] seven years ago that I wanted to be the baddest man on drag radials , and we sure ain ’ t done yet .” DI

PHOTO : CHRIS SEARS

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