STATESVILLE, N.C. — Ryan Millington added to his consistent record at Hickory Motor Speedway last Saturday, scoring a pair of runner-up finishes in twin 40s for the NASCAR Whelen All American Series Late Model Stock Car division and further cementing his hold on second place in the track point standings.
Millington qualified on the pole for race one and started from second in race two, hunting eventual winner Justin Carroll for the entire distance in both 40-lap mains.
The first race saw Millington and Carroll check out from the field, with Millington settling into second before a late-race caution with five laps to go put him in the hunt and on the prowl.
Millington got a good run on Carroll’s outside on the restart, nearly getting a run around him before having to back off the throttle going down the backstretch and ultimately holding second for the remainder of the event.
In race two, Millington rolled into the lead from the outside pole and dominated the early proceedings before Carroll came to challenge at the halfway point.
The duo raced side-by-side for nearly 15 laps before Millington edged back in front with four to go, but a well-timed shot from Carroll to Millington’s quarter panel loosened up the No. 17 and caused a loss of momentum that just cost Millington the lead and the win over the final three laps around the .363-mile oval.
Despite two near-misses in the win column, the pair of second-place results pushed Millington’s recent run of consistency to four runner-up finishes in his last five starts at HMS.
“The car was really good all day long,” Millington said. “We made a few changes that had us a little too loose in qualifying, but we were there in the hunt the whole time and I feel like the weekend was a really good showing for us.”
Having mathematically locked up second in the Hickory track championship race, Millington will take the weekend off from racing as HMS concludes their season with track championship night on Saturday, Sept. 17.
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
