STATESVILLE, N.C. — Ryan Millington will tackle the biggest race of his burgeoning career-to-date this weekend when he makes his debut appearance at historic Martinsville Speedway during the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 for NASCAR Whelen All American Series late model stock cars.
Millington tested at the 0.533-mile, paper clip-shaped bullring last Thursday and unofficially laid down times in the sub-21 second bracket.
While a lap of 20.92 seconds was only enough for 46th among the 71 drivers timed during the session, Millington believed he had more in the car before motor issues ended his day prematurely.
“It definitely wasn’t a good way to end (the test) with the motor blowing up, but we were super fast all day,” Millington said. “Being competitive as far as times go was a huge goal of ours that we met and I can’t thank the crew enough for making it possible for me to have such an awesome car my first time ever at Martinsville.”
Now Millington looks ahead to what he hopes will be 225 laps of competition during the race weekend program — a 25 lap qualifying race and then the culmination, the 200-lap main event on Sunday, Oct. 16.
Though it will be his first appearance at Martinsville in race conditions, the personable teenager is excited for his chances of making a big rookie splash.
“I think you have to be excited, and we definitely are after what we showed on test day. 200 laps is a lot different than the handful we ran last week, especially with 40 cars out there all going for the same goal, but we’re ready to regroup and see what we can do. If you can survive to the end (of the race), you have a shot and that’s what we’re hoping to do.”
Millington carries a solid season record into the weekend, having scored three NASCAR Whelen All American Series late model stock car wins earlier in the year at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway, and finished the year second in points at the oldest NASCAR-sanctioned short track in the country.
After doing all of that in his rookie season at Hickory, he’s hoping similar rookie magic will reap rewards for him come Sunday afternoon at Martinsville.
Follow Millington on Facebook by searching Millington Motorsports, and for more information on driver and team, visit his website at www.RyanMillington.com.
About Ryan Millington
Ryan Millington is an accomplished 14-year-old racer from Statesville, North Carolina. Growing up in a family with a background and love for the sport, Ryan has already been a winner on both dirt and pavement, competing in several different types of cars.
Millington has won over 80 races in go-karts on dirt and has also won on INEX legends cars on pavement. In 2015, Ryan had legends car wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Anderson Motor Speedway, and scored a mini-outlaw win at Millbridge Speedway on the dirt.
The personable teenager has also had multiple poles and three victories to date in the Millington Motorsports No. 17 late model stock car. 2016 sees Ryan and the team concentrating on building their late model program out of their shop in Statesville, N.C.
Ryan’s promotion and coaching is handled by veteran Performance Coach Tom Baker of Team Full Throttle in Charlotte, N.C. His marketing partners include Scott Millington Motorsports and TAOTAO USA Inc.
CREDIT: Millington Motorsports
