Drag Illustrated Issue 195, July / August 2025 | Page 86

WOMEN OF POWER • 2025 KALLEE MILLS
Mills got plenty of experience hanging the front wheels in her twin-turbocharged“ Golden Gorilla” Camaro while competing in PDRA Pro Street and the Pro 10.5 Challenge at WSOPM. all day. We had a good first round.”
Mills ended up on the wrong end of a good race in the second round, where she left. 003 seconds ahead of Ron Muenks and kept him honest, but Muenks finished first with a 3.662 to Mills’ 3.679. Mills went into the race knowing what to expect, as she grew up around Muenks, car owner Dave Pierce, and tuner Jeff Pierce since the Pierces also live in the Tulsa area.
“ I knew that their car was fast and I knew that I had to do my job on the tree, and so did Ron,” Mills says.“ We both had killer lights. We both ran down there. I think it was probably the closest race of the weekend. With my reaction time and eighth-mile time, I think we would have won any other round. But to go out there in my second race and run that close with the No. 1 qualifier and have a good race like that and them know lining up next to me that they can’ t be slouching was definitely cool.”
Mills moved on to the Shakedown at M’ Town at U. S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan, where she pulled double duty competing in MWDRS Pro Mod in the screw-blown“ Scarlett” Camaro and in Duck X Productions’ N / T Outlaw 275 Shootout in the supercharged“ Golden Kong” Camaro.
“ I’ d always dreamed of having two or three cars sitting out there for me to get in and run and be competitive in all different classes,” Mills says.“ We could have actually taken the 10.5 car— that class is one of my favorites— but with just three crew members, we just couldn’ t manage it all.”
Sure enough, the two cars they brought kept the Kallee Mills Motorsports camp busy. They were trying to work out a few issues with Kong to prepare for a bunch of big no-time races. The pressure was on in Pro Mod, as 25 cars attempted to qualify for the 16-car field with stellar conditions. She went into the final qualifying session solidly in the field, but things changed by the time she hit the track.
“ I was about to roll in to pre-stage and I looked up at the scoreboard and it said 3.65 with a four or something. It was me— I was the bump,” Mills says.“ There were still cars behind me that were sitting on the outside that could have bumped me out. I’ m like,‘ Oh, God, I hope I can get this down through there and we can qualify decently.’ I ended up running a 3.601. I don’ t think I’ ve ever been that excited in the car. I was pumped. I couldn’ t believe we
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