tylor miller
in time for the first round of qualifying,” Miller
says. “Then, when we showed up we had every
issue in the book, obviously because we had to
thrash just to get the car done in time. It took us
a long time to recover from all that, too, because
we had to work to find every bit of positive we
ever had in the car. It’s come a long way from
where we started.”
In the meantime Russell Miller had taken out
a 10-year lease on Darlington Dragway late in
2015, almost surely saving it from becoming just
another footnote to drag racing history. “It was
going to close down and we really didn’t want to
see that happen; we didn’t want to see the track
go to waste,” his son says. “But the biggest thing
that made us get started on Darlington Dragway
was to get people back on the race track because
people around here were starting to go back to
street racing real bad.”
A major renovation ensued, with the track’s
guardrails almost immediately replaced by new
concrete walls poured by Tylor himself. Then
there were upgrades made to the restrooms and
concession stands, plus new equipment acquired
to improve and speed up track prep. The new
Darlington Dragway also attracted the attention
of promoter Nathan Vanbeek, who booked in two
ALL THE RAGE
With his family-based team joined by crew chief
Mike Kopchick of Rage Fuel Systems and noted
chassis builder Andy McCoy, Miller and his Pee Dee
Fleet ‘69 Chevelle are now in the hunt for a PDRA
Pro Boost championship to join his 2016 CXPM title.
events in 2016 for his Carolina Xtreme Pro Mod
series. That led to Miller and his dad thinking
about how they were struggling in the heat on
PDRA tracks and needing to find a tune-up on
tracks not quite so well-prepared, so they opted
to sit out PDRA races at Tulsa, Dallas and Mar-
tin, Michigan, and hit the CXPM circuit instead
“We actually did that deal just to test, and none
of Nathan’s dates fell on PDRA, which was great
for us since we still wanted the option and capa-
bility to go back there once we got the car figured
out. It seemed like we were always just a step be-
hind, so we missed three or four races because we
just needed to step back, do our homework and
figure things out so we could come back full force.”
Miller actually went on to win three of eight
CXPM events last year on his way to securing the
series championship. And what he and his team
learned led directly to their oh-so-close results
upon returning to PDRA action.
“We have good equipment, but really, we race
with a very small budget compared to a lot of the
teams that we compete against. It’s like we really
don’t have a budget because as soon as there’s any
money in the bank it’s used to pay a bill for the
race car,” Miller reveals. Not surprisingly, Miller
says he and the team are “very open to sponsor-
ship opportunities,” pointing out his dad “does a
great job at keeping us out there” before adding
there’s nothing they would like better than to
see another company’s name on the doors as a
major sponsor.
Regardless, Miller sees the team on an upswing
and is enjoying its newfound success and notori-
ety among competitors and fans alike.
“We seem to have a lot more people interested
in what we’re doing. It’s really quite overwhelming
and awesome. Sometimes I’m at a loss for words
because I’m just not used to it. I’m more used to
being one of those guys who try hard but usually
have to pack up early, so to be in a position where
we’re going rounds and in a position to win rac-
es, well, it’s like a dream come true for me,” he
says. “To be considered a professional drag racer,
there’s just nothing better than that as far as I’m
concerned.”
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May 2017
DragIllustrated.com
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