“ We were going to build another Radial vs . the World car because at the time we started the deal the rules kind of leaned in favor of the blower deal , but then Keith talked to me about converting his old ‘ Enigma ’ Camaro from RVW to Pro Mod and it just seemed like the right time to make a change and try something new ,” explains Mills .

“ You know , Enigma always ran on nitrous with me , but it was built with a wheelbase to handle a twin-turbo or ProCharger or screw blower combo , so we ’ re excited to see the way things go with this new screw motor ,” Haney adds . “ And Dewayne ’ s always been a twin-turbo guy and I ’ ve always been a nitrous guy , but we both wanted to try something different this time , shake things up a bit .”

Mills says he and Haney had been in talks about rebuilding Enigma together since mid-2019 , but late that year he suggested Haney just sell the car since he was putting his racing program on hold . Then he revealed his latest cancer scare to Haney , just a month or so before undergoing surgery for prostate cancer late last January .

“ That obviously bothered him , so when I was having my surgery , Keith loaded the car up and got a blower motor from Todd Martin and Todd put it in the car to get us started ,” Mills says . “ He wanted to do this while I was healing up because he said , ‘ It ’ s going to be too easy for you to quit racing completely if you ’ re out of racing .’ So when I got healed up enough to do stuff , we just start tinkering with it , trying to get it together .”

Mills then suffered a further setback last August in Nebraska , after going through a devastating , high-speed rollover crash in the “ Golden Kong ” ‘ 68 Camaro that his daughter Kallee usually drives , during filming for the popular Street Outlaws TV show .

“ I was left bruised up from head to toe and fractured an elbow that I didn ’ t even know about ,” Mills says . “ And it took about two-and-a-half weeks for the world to quit spinning and for me to stop trying to throw up . Then I went back to work about three-and-a-half weeks after the accident .”

Since that time , Mills has been back to the track just once , testing the original Golden Gorilla over Thanksgiving weekend at Edinburg Motorsports Park in south Texas . His next outing will

probably come in late February or early March at Tulsa Motorsports Park , with just a few halftrack shakedown runs expected for his first Pro Mod driving experience .

Originally built by Jeffers Race Cars , the new ride features an aggressive Golden Gorillathemed wrap designed and applied by Kryptonite Kustomz . It carries a Brandon Pesz-built engine , with a former Q80 Racing blower bolted on top . FuelTech provides mechanical injection and all power management , with the resulting horsepower running through an M & M transmission and converter . And with so much experience and success on Mickey Thompson drag radials , he also is sticking with Mickey Thompson slicks for his transition to big-tire competition .

At the track , Pesz will handle the tuneup , assisted by longtime friend and tuner Jamie Miller , with additional help coming from Mills ’ wife Tara and daughter , plus crew members John Maguda , Brenden Russell and John Miller .

“ It ’ s gonna be a learning experience for all of us and I ’ ll probably blow it up a couple of times before we get it all figured out , but it ’ ll be good . I mean , it ’ s something way different for me , but you know , it ’ s something I ’ ve always had the goal of doing ,” Mills says .

Mills plans to mount a full-season campaign alongside Haney as Pro Mod teammates in the 2021 Summit Racing Mid-West Drag Racing Series ( MWDRS ). He assures his many loyal fans they haven ’ t seen the last of him on the small-tire circuit , though .

“ We ’ re definitely not giving up on the steelbodied cars ,” he insists . “ We ’ ve got a new car being built for my daughter and it ’ s gonna be a real nice piece . We ’ ve still got enough cars to go around , that ’ s for sure .” DI

22 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 165