PWC: Mills Racing announces limited schedule

Mills Racing, a joint venture for father-son duo Mickey & Michael Mills, plans to participate in a limited number of Pirelli World Challenge races in addition to an SCCA National Championship Runoffs bid.

Michael, 2014 Pirelli World Challenge GTA Champion, will be behind the wheel of the No. 46 BMW Z4 as the main driver for the PWC races beginning with the season opener at Circuit of The Americas. Mickey will co-drive during the Sprint-X races and qualify to participate in the Runoffs by running various races in the Southwest & Southeast Divisions of the Club Racing arm of the SCCA.

"We are very excited to get behind the wheel of this Z4," Mickey said. "I've raced a BMW in Trans-AM the past few years, and I can't wait to drive this car with my son in Pirelli World Challenge."

Michael shared equal excitement about sharing the car and returning to the PWC series.

"2014 was a great year in PWC, and we hope to achieve the same success during this upcoming season," Michael said. "It will be fun to share a car with my dad for the endurance races since we've never actually raced together before."

The car's livery are based off of a pro-stock drag racecar Mickey had back in the 1970s. The logo is an homage to the logo he used during that time as well.

Joining the team behind the scenes is veteran crew chief Kyle Kavanagh, who brings over 10 years of experience from working with cornerstone teams in ALMS and IMSA.

"I'm very excited to build a business with Mickey and Michael," Kavanagh said. "Combining all of our strengths and successes from over the years, I think we will be able to bring great things to Mills Racing this year."

Since the team is doing a limited number of races, their goal is to win each GTA race they enter. That starts with getting to know the new-to-them Z4. The team has spent the past three days testing at MSR Houston.

"The car is different than the previous car I won with in PWC, and we've been working on getting a handle on what makes this car fast," Michael said. "Our roots are with BMW, and it's nice to back to them as a family. We can build off each other each time we go out."

The team was happy with how quickly Mickey got up to speed. His pace was consistent right out of the gate, and he went quicker than he's ever gone before. It's encouraging for the 2016 plans in Club Racing and the few PWC races he plans to run.

The team will continue to test through the rest of December and January, and Mickey will begin his Runoffs bid in February before the PWC season opener the first weekend of March.