Young Gun Looks to Stake His Place in Pro Boost
PITTSBORO, N.C. (September 9, 2015): It’s only Tylor Miller’s second season behind the wheel of a Pro Boost machine, but don’t tell him that. He believes he was born to do this and has been driving accordingly. Ever since he could remember Miller has wanted to go fast. And even now, his best time of 3.843 isn’t fast enough. He still wants more.

Like many kids who grow up around racing, Miller begged his dad Russell for a Junior Dragster. Unfortunately the family wasn’t financially able at the time, but that didn’t stop the elder Miller from getting his son involved. They worked on restoring an old Mustang together, and when Tylor was old enough, Russell stuck him behind the wheel of a Z71 Chevrolet truck.

“He put me in that and let me have at it,” Tylor remembers. “We ended up putting nitrous on it. It ran pretty good to be an old Z71. Then we got the Mustang done and I raced it. I won some bracket races and a couple of heads up races with it, but I still wanted to go faster.

Miller’s next step up was a 10.5 Outlaw car, a ‘92 Z28 Camaro. “I qualified for an ORSCA race with that car at 16 years old,” he continued. “I wasn’t old enough to drive the car. My dad used his license and the car had tinted windows. So I raced and qualified. The car came up to a wheelie and blew the tires off and slammed the front end hard one run. I eased over because I didn’t know if there was oil or not. On my way

out of the car all the officials were like ‘whoa, whoa you gotta get back in the car.’ They made me stay in the car until we got back to the trailer. An official came to our trailer and said, ‘I’m not saying he can’t drive, because he obviously can, but he can’t drive here.’”

The father/son duo continued to push the limits, finding places and ways to “get after it” as time and finances allowed. As the family business grew, so did their racing efforts. It was finally time to put together a machine that would allow them to compete with a professional touring series. They chose to join the PDRA in its inaugural year and have made every race the organization has contested thus far.

“When we showed up to the very first Rockingham race we were literally still putting the car together on the way. We were zip tying things together. We just wanted to get the car out there and see if we could get qualified. We wanted to be in the points. We had some issues, of course, working the bugs out of it, mainly electrical problems. By Martin, Michigan we got that figured out. A wire was shorting in the steering column. The car started running great. We went a 3.88. It was the first time I had ever been in the 80s. I was real happy.

“Brian Olson did an interview on me then,” Miller remembered with a somber change in tone. “That was my first ever interview. He was a really cool guy. He’ll always hold a spot near and dear to me. I hate he ain’t here.”

As often heard echoed amongst PDRA race teams, one of the main reasons the Millers keep coming back to the PDRA is the people. “It’s very family oriented. I like racing with them,” Tylor expressed. “Our team is family oriented, as well, so it’s a good fit.”

The team is indeed a family affair, headed by team owners Russell and Dee Dee Miller. Mike Kopchick of Rage Fuel Systems and Andy McCoy of Andy McCoy Race Cars balance tuning duties. Will Butler, Tommy Kopchick, Mike’s wife Sheila, and Tylor’s sister, Brooke, round out the team. “This is my little sister’s first year racing Junior Dragsters,” offered Tylor. “She’s doing good. She actually got her first .000 light last race. We were excited about that. My little boy and my wife will come to most of the races as well. He loves it. We’ll celebrate his third birthday at Rockingham this weekend. My wife enjoys it as well. She thinks it’s a little too fast for me, but she does enjoy it. My mom would be here too, if she wasn’t working in New Mexico. It’s a full family deal. We all love it.

“We are a full service commercial truck and equipment repair facility,” Miller went on, thanking his main backer, Pee Dee Fleet. “You don’t ever hear of that. Normally you have to go one place for your truck, another place for the trailer, another place for something else, but we do everything in one place. I think that’s what made us so successful.”

The team would also like to thank Clean Boost Oil Company, 1320 Media, Hammer Supercharges, Flatout Gaskets, Total Flow Heads, Rossler Transmissions, System 1 Filtration, and the Drag Racers Association of Florence (DRAF).

They finished off their first season fifth in points, a remarkable accomplishment for the young team “This year we’re getting our combination closer to where we want it,” Miller continued. “We’ve been setting our goals playing it safe, trying to save parts and not push the car too hard.

“Here a few months ago we switched to a Pro-Filer computer systems. It’s a lot more manageable than the other system we had in the car. Mike Kopchick at Rage has been great heading up our engine and fuel system development. Andy McCoy of Andy McCoy Race Cars has surely done his part in providing us a safe and consistent race car. Hoosier Tire has been instrumental in helping us get the power to the track. Hedman Hedders has been helping us a lot with expenses. We switched to Flatout Gaskets this year and they seem to be working out great.

“We’ve been trying to get after it for a while now. Hopefully by the end of the year we’ll close that points gap between second and third. At the minimum we want to hold third. We’re going to try to come here to Rockingham with everything turned up as hard a it will go to see if we can’t win one.”


 ABOUT THE PDRA
Based in Pittsboro, North Carolina, the Professional Drag Racers Association is the top sanctioning body in the United States for the sport of eighth-mile drag racing. The PDRA’s professional categories include Pro Extreme, Pro Nitrous, Pro Boost, and Pro Extreme Motorcycle along with Top Sportsman, Top Dragster, Pro Jr. Dragster, and Top Jr. Dragster. The 2015 PDRA schedule consists of ten national events. For more on the world’s premier eighth mile drag racing organization visit www.pdra660.com. Follow the PDRA: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube.

Photo: Gary Rowe / PDRA660.com / RaceWorks.com


PRESS CONTACT: Lisa Collier
Professional Drag Racers Association
lisa@pdra660.com