Photo by Mike Neff
The Summer Shootout is underway at Charlotte Motor Speedway. For the next eight weeks, every Tuesday night, the speedway will host the future stars of racing in the INEX Legends and Bandoleros during the Jack in the Box Summer Shootout. Frontstretch will be there every week chronicling the action. We’ll also be sitting down with two drivers to document their entire shootout experience.
Ryan Millington is a young driver who is making his Legends debut this Summer in the Young Lions division. The division is designed for those drivers who are making the move into Legends and learning how to handle the very difficult to drive race cars. This week we’ll learn a little about this budding racer and what he plans to do with his racing career.
Mike Neff: Where are you from?
Ryan Millington: I’m from Statesville, North Carolina.
MN: How long have you been racing?
RM: I have been racing for the last four and a half to five years.
MN: What did you race to start your racing career?
RM: The first thing I raced was go-karts.
MN: What kind of go-karts did you first race?
RM: I started in dirt go-karts at a race track called Woodleaf Speedway in Woodleaf, North Carolina.
MN: What kind of racing are you doing these days?
RM: I’m competing in the Summer Shootout here at Charlotte in Legends cars and also running Mini Outlaw Sprint Karts at Millbridge Speedway.
MN: What made you decide to run in the Summer Shootout?
RM: We met Kyle Beattie and set up a test session at Concord. Things went well and so we decided to give this a shot.
MN: What do you hope to do with your racing career?
RM: I hope to make it up to Late Models and eventually make a living racing.
MN: Have you won any track championships during your early racing career?
RM: No, although I have finished second three different times.
MN: What is your hope for the Summer Shootout? Are you just trying to gain experience or do you think the championship is a realistic goal?
RM: We are looking to finish Top 5 in points. If that happens we’ll consider it a successful Summer.
Millington’s Summer Shootout has started out solidly. On Monday night he survived his first race with a clean 15th place finish. He followed that up with his first Top 5 of the Summer coming home in fourth on Tuesday night. The conditions were tough on Tuesday as rain moved through the area and dampened the track before features started. The tough conditions tested driver ability in already difficult cars to drive and Millington passed the test.
About the author
What is it that Mike Neff doesn’t do? The writer, radio contributor and racetrack announcer coordinates the site’s local short track coverage, hitting up Saturday Night Specials across the country while tracking the sport’s future racing stars. The writer for our signature Cup post-race column, Thinkin’ Out Loud (Mondays) also sits down with Cup crew chiefs to talk shop every Friday with Tech Talk. Mike announces several shows each year for the Good Guys Rod and Custom Association. He also pops up everywhere from PRN Pit Reporters and the Press Box with Alan Smothers to SIRIUS XM Radio. He has announced at tracks all over the Southeast, starting at Millbridge Speedway. He's also announced at East Lincoln Speedway, Concord Speedway, Tri-County Speedway, Caraway Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway.
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