13-year-old Miller chasing off-road championships with racing royalty lineage

Talented young racers taking the fight to older competitors is nothing new, but for a 13-year-old in his first full season of short course off road racing, fighting for the championship in a sport he was only recently introduced to is impressive.

Wyatt Miller isn't a typical 13-year old. Competing in the Pro Spec Class at this weekend's 56th Annual Polaris World Championships at Crandon International Raceway, he already has a variety of racing experience under his belt, including micro sprints and limited late models. But the biggest influence on his success goes back to before he ever floored a gas pedal.

Miller's parents are L.W. Miller and Kelley Earnhardt-Miller. Yes, that Kelley Earnhardt – daughter of Dale and sister to Dale Jr., as well as the CEO and co-owner of JR Motorsports. With one of NASCAR's greatest racers as his grandfather, Wyatt was bound to do well in racing.

“It's in his DNA to go fast and mash the gas pedal and and be an awesome racer,” says team owner Ryan Beat, a fellow North Carolina resident and champion off-road racer. “To come in with as much seat time as he has from other forms of racing – the micro sprint, the late model, the dirt late model … he really gets a lot of seat time. I feel we have a very strong program, a competitive truck. I have some of the knowledge and experience that it takes to win these classes, so I think the combo of everything involved around him right now leads to a winning package.”

Beat saw Miller race micro sprints at Millbridge Speedway in Salisbury, N.C. and started keeping an eye on him.

“When I won Tulsa shoot out in the micro, I guess Ryan was watching, and Ryan texted my dad and asked if I wanted to race, and I went from there,” explains Miller. “So I ran half a season last year, and then we're on the full season this year.

“We're second in points right now, like eight points behind. Hoping to have a good round here, and then go to Glen Helen for the final.”

Richard S. James Photo

Aside from watching him win in micro sprints, what did Beat see in Miller that made him want to put the kid in a truck for a test?

“I had seen a couple social media videos of him playing with the RC cars and and riding his four wheeler and stuff like that. I'm like, this is a kid that would fit perfect in the off road world. Seeing how much he played with his RC car on social media and whatnot, I thought, ‘Man, I wonder if he'd want to play with the real thing?’”

Beat says Miller wasn't real sure after the first test, or even the second, but he stuck with it and found a talent for it.

“Now he's hooked on it and wants to keep going,” Beat says.

For Miller to do well well in Pro Spec, a class similar to a Pro Lite but with less power, fewer changes allowed and an H-pattern gearbox, against the older teenagers and adults who populate the class, is impressive. One of the things that allows him to perform, he says, is putting the power down while keeping the truck under control. 

At just 13, the weight of the family lineage and legacy doesn't fall as much on his shoulders, but he's certainly aware of it. He just tries not to let it bother him.

“It does a little bit … not much, though. I just try to stay humble and do what I do," he said. Simple.

• Watch the action from the Off Road World Championships at Crandon all weekend on RACER Network and the RACER+ App. Check the RACER TV page for air times.