Her youthful looks or bubbly persona fool you for one second. Jessica McMillin wants to kick your ass on the race track. And given the winning tradition her last name carries, she can likely get that done if she hasn't already. - This is the opening sentence in the article by Marty Fiolka in Dirt Sports Magazine on Jessica McMillin.
Jessica, 25, is the older sister to Andy McMillin and the daughter of Scott and Susan McMillin. "I've been going prerunning since I was just four years old," she proudly states. "My father actually had two kid seats in his prerunner, and we would ride around the dunes chasing my grandpa (off-road racing legend Corky McMillin) and my uncle (five-time Baja 1000 winner Mark McMillin).
Jessica works in the family business for McMillin Realty in the Marketing Department, it also happens to be in the same office as the race shop.
Her first official race was in 2008 at a Mexican CODE event, where she and fellow female racer Chelsea Magness raced the Mango Racing Protruck to a second-place finish. The annual MORE Powder Puff event was next, but then she took a huge next step at the start of 2009 by entering the family's ex-Robby Gordon Trophy Truck at the BITD Parker 425 in the Sportsman class. "That didn't go so well," she admitted shyly. Together with co-driver Todd Tenbroek, she hit a bump and rolled a mile into the race. They got the truck fixed, and had a "great time rolling around in the pouring rain and mud" before a broken radiator ended her day.
The team then bought friend Tim Noe's six-time championship-winning Jimco-VW Class 12 car, in which she promptly won an MDR race teamed with Corky's longtime co-driver Hector Cuadras. It was a good start, but Jessica realized after running the 2010 SCORE Laughlin race that it was finally time to have corrective surgery on both shoulders injured by years of water skiing. She is now healing, but plans a rigorous physical therapy program to prepare for another attack later this year at the MORE Powder Puff race and the SCORE Baja 1000.
Marty Fiolka ends his interview with Jessica by asking her about her future goals. She did say that one was to someday beat her brother Andy. She also said she is happy learning from everyone at McMillin Racing. And the one thing that sticks with her the most is her grandfathers motto "You never, ever quit!"
Everyone at McMillin is so proud of what Jessica has accomplished. Now, GO KICK BUTT!!!
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