Dick Mills will forever be remembered in our hearts. I am heartsick to know that Dick will no longer be there to give me a hug when I get out of the car. He had a way about him that made me want to make him proud. He has been a mentor at the track and my spotter on many occasions. I have so many great memories with Dick and am sad that there won’t be any more. My family and I are deeply saddened by his passing. Dick was a good friend and will be missed greatly. Dick’s passion for racing was evident every time you talked with him and worked with him at the track. He was always helping people and thinking of ways to improve their performance. He was always researching and coming up with new ideas that would give the race teams he helped an advantage. And he helped a lot of teams to success. Anybody he’s ever helped knows the importance of the sway bar. Dick helped us to the SK Light championship in 2006, one of many championships he can lay claim to having a hand in. Dick’s support has been endless throughout my racing career. He wouldn’t say he’d be coming to the track and then he would just be there, helping out. He surprised us at the North South Shootout in 2006, showing up in Concord, NC and helping us to a 2nd place finish in the SK Light. Dick was always quick to introduce me to his friends and through him I met the racing legends Billy Greco, Beaver Dragon and others. Dick always had a story to share, every once in a while a hunting story would come out, but he always came back to racing.
One of my favorite racing stories of ours has to do with a wild turkey named Tom. Dick had received an article from his cousin about wild turkeys on Martha’s Vineyard. The article was hysterical and provided us all with many laughs. Well, Dick decided to give me a little incentive behind the wheel. He copied the picture of a turkey from the article and taped it to my rear spoiler so when I looked in the mirror, I would see a wild turkey chasing after me. Dick was on the radio telling me I better get moving before the wild turkey got a hold of me. We laughed so hard.
Dick loved this article and had brought a copy to Thunder Road to show Beaver Dragon. I know he enjoyed seeing his reaction and saying yes, it is a true story, when Dragon asked. Here’s a link to the article for all to enjoy. It always put a smile on Dick’s face.
The truck race at Stafford is another great memory for us. Dick had helped out a truck team when the truck division first started. In 2006, we purchased a trailer and a race truck came with it, the one Dick had worked on. Dick loved this truck and when he found out we were going to run it at Stafford, he helped us get ready for the race. We were okay in the first practice, Dick and Norm made a few changes and we were the fastest truck for the rest of the day. With Dick spotting for me, we had a great run. We started last and moved our way up to fifth where we finished with a left front going down. We ended up third after tech. The best part? Dick had a smile on his face all day.
No matter how good or bad a day you have at the racetrack, the most important thing to remember is the time you spent with friends and family. We will always cherish the memories we made with Dick and the time that we were able to spend together. We would like to extend our deepest sympathy to all of Dick’s family and friends.
