Monroe, NC (5/17/2017) -
The Mills family and Mills3 Racing kicked
off the 2017 racing season in the TORC Off
Road Championship during the Chicagoland Slam
at the Dirt Track at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet,
IL. Father and son Chris and Payton Mills
will compete full time in the Pro Stock and
Pro Modified classes this season.
The Mills have changed everything on this
program this year. They switched from Polaris
RZRs to Yamaha YXZ 1000s. They moved from
the WORCS off road series to the short-course
TORC Series. They welcomed a host of new sponsors.
However, one thing remains constant: family.
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Mills3
Racing's is all about family with three
generations of the Mills family traveling
to the races together |
“My dad is 75 years old and he’s having a
good time with us,” said Chris Mills. “To
me, this is what it means to be a father.
Payton is learning how to use a wrench and
how to talk to people and what racing is about.
It’s great bonding time.”
Though they had a difficult first weekend,
Payton Mills finished first in one of the
Sportsman races. He was using the event to
gain experience and seat time for his Pro
Modified effort.
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Off-Road's Payton Mills charged his
way through the pack on Sunday to take
the checkered flag in the Sportsman
Class |
“We had tough times in qualifying in the
Pro class and I really needed some more seat
time as I had only driven the car two or three
times before this weekend,” explained Mills.
“I started last in class and I was trying
to get the seat time to help with Pro qualifying.
It was fun battling back and forth with these
guys. It won’t be long before they are at
the Pro level.”
The younger Mills is happy the team switched
to Yamaha this year. The YXZ 1000 is different
from most UTVs on the market because of its
use of a standard shift transmission, instead
of a CTV. Mills said that makes a big difference
in its competitiveness.
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Addict
Racing's Payton Mills |
“The Yamaha is a totally different ball game,”
said Payton Mills. “With the Polaris, you
have to worry about letting up on jumps and
blowing belts. You don’t have to worry about
that with the Yamaha. It’s a lot smoother
ride.”
The team welcomed several new sponsors this
season. German oil company, Liqui Moly is
on board this season and Fuel is supplying
wheels and tires. The family business Pearson
Archery is also backing the team. Greaves
Motorsports built the cars supplied by Powersports
One and Addict Racing Engines is providing
their race-winning power. Dan from All Terrain
Communications is also helping, providing
radios to the team and acting as spotter.
“Liqui Moly has done a great job of getting
us products to make our car run well,” said
Payton Mills. “Fuel Wheels and Tires are great.
Pearson Archery supports us 100%. It’s our
family company and it keeps us going for every
race. Motorsports One hooked us up with the
Yamaha and gave us everything we needed. They
sent us over to Greaves Motorsports who setup
our car and it handled like a champion.”
Chris Mills decided that he wanted to go
a different direction this year. After running
the West Coast based WORCS Series in 2016,
he wanted to race a little closer to home.
TORC was an obvious choice.
“We had a great time in WORCS, but we wanted
our program at home this year,” said Chris
Mills. “TORC features stout competition, and
it’s going to be that way all season, but
it’s a great series.”
Chris Mills exemplifies the term “Racer.”
Though they had difficulties in the season
opener, he’s not ready to hang his head. Instead,
he’s ready to grow from here.
“We didn’t have the weekend we wanted, but
that’s what separates the men from the boys,”
said Mills. “You can’t crawl under a rock.
You have to take the good times with the bad.
We’re going to build the program from here
and get things pointing in the right direction.
We’re going to go home and get ready for Minnesota.”
In that vein, Chris Mills was having problems
getting his ride going for the Sunday race
and fellow competitor Zach Martin stepped
in to help. He loaned the Mills team his extra
YXZ 1000 for the race.
“We were talking about the problems we were
having and he said ‘I have this extra car
over here. If you’d like to drive it, you’re
more than welcome to it,’” said Mills. “That’s
what it’s all about. Everyone in the pits
helps each other out and I want to give a
big shout out to Zach Martin for loaning me
his car to get through the Sunday race.”
Mills3 Racing will be ready to bounce back
as the TORC Off Road Championship heads to
ERX Motorpark in Elk River, MN. That race
is scheduled for June 10-11.
