McMillin Racing pre Baja 1000 news

San Diego, California (October 20, 2009) Earlier this year, Dan McMillin climbed into the driver's seat of his father's JIMCO Class 1 car for the 186-mile King of the Desert race. This was the first race for Dan McMillin in a high-horsepower off road rocket ship. For years, he has honed his skills behind the wheel of 75 horsepower 1600 car. It was the beginning of a new era within the McMillin Racing family. After a long day in the desert, Dan McMillin finished in second place to the overall winner.

Fast forward six months and a few hundred miles of seat time and things changed up rather quickly.

On Saturday, October 17, 2009, Dan drove the McMillin Racing JIMCO Class 1 car to the OVERALL victory at the Superstition 250. The race started off with a solid first 100-miles under his belt before the San Diego off road racer lost third gear and had to make adjustments in shifting. Dan commented, "We ran in the dust of Steve Sourapas' Trophy Truck for the first three laps and then our race team got us fueled and out of the main pit before Steve's truck. We didn't have third gear, but we were able to stay out in front and got the overall. It was a great race!"

The McMillin Racing #101 JIMCO Class 1 ran the entire race without a single flat tire. "Our BFGoodrich Tires were perfect all day long. Unbelievable, because we put those tires through the ultimate abuse in the desert today and they survived," said the smiling Dan McMillin.

Mark McMillin talked about his son's performance, "Dan drove a textbook race today and our race team put our JIMCO in front right with a perfect mid-race pit stop. He not only had to battle other racers, but the heavy dust throughout the entire day and he's going faster and faster each race. This was a great first win for Dan in the JIMCO and I see nothing but many race wins in the future for our team."

Luke McMillin drove his #1609 1-2 1600 car off the start line and was third on the road, charging towards the front of the field, when he suffered an unlikely problem when the bottom motor studs sheared. Luke was able to limp into the pits where the team used a ratchet-strap to secure it in place.

Luke cruised around the racecourse and was able to finish in the top five. "After we discovered the motor problem, we were hoping to just get to the finish and our crew rigged up a strap that held the motor in place so we could make it to the finish line."

Jessica McMillin, sister of Andy McMillin and daughter of Scott, raced a Class 12 car in the race and claimed victory. Jessica piloted the McMillin Class 12 car for five of the six 32-mile laps and had no problems in her run to the top of the podium.

America's legendary off road racing family will return to the famous Baja Peninsula racing at this year's SCORE Baja 1000 to be held on November 21, 2009 in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. This race will cover over 1000-kilometers throughout the northern Baja Peninsula desert as an international contingent of desert racers head to Mexico for this challenging experience.

Mark McMillin will race his #23 SCORE Trophy Truck while Dan and Luke McMillin will race their 1-2 1600 car.

Driving the #31 SCORE Trophy Truck at the SCORE Baja 1000 will be Andy McMillin and his father, Scott, as they hope to repeat their performance from 2006 where Andy was crowned the SCORE Baja 1000 Trophy Truck winner.

-credit: mr