28 bit. I think we had three runner-ups in PDRA and five runner-ups and two wins in Carolina Extreme. I think I set a record every time I went No. 1 qualifier.” Pushing the envelope is nothing new for Miller, whose father Russell owns the IHRA-sanctioned Darlington Dragway in South Carolina. Tylor’s first driving experience came at age eight in a pickup truck at 710 Dragway in Rowland, N.C. near Pembroke. When the truck didn’t go as fast as Tylor hoped, his Dad put a shot of nitrous on it, and it was better. From there, it was the younger Miller’s first Pro Mod car with a blower. “That was probably the most nervous I’ve ever been because I’d never been a blower car – I always ran nitrous,” Tylor Miller said. “My legs were jumping at the starting line, my adrenaline was pumping, and I thought my head was gonna explode. As soon as I put the pedal to the floor, it was like all happiness; I made a full pull even though Daddy told me to only go to 300 feet.” Tylor Miller has nearly two decades of going full speed ahead. But, it was the South Carolina Pro Mod driver’s willingness to take a step back and slow down that helped him become a champion. Miller first drove when he was eight years old, and now, at age 27, he’s approaching 19 years behind the wheel. All that experience led to last year’s Carolina Extreme Pro Mod championship. The Hartsville, S.C. driver tops the Carolina Pro Extreme lists for wins, No. 1 qualifiers and final rounds. He raced in seven of the nine events in 2016, winning two races in four final rounds and posting six No. 1 qualifiers on his way to the title. “It was awesome – it was a good group,” Miller said at a recent International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) Summit Sportsman National Championship race. “There were some good competitors – there really aren’t any ‘gimmies’. In drag racing, you don’t ever know. The best guy could break in the burnout; this sport is unpredictable. The best thing you can do is stay on top to the best of your ability and hope you make the next round. If you hit the button, and she starts moving, you can start grinnin’!” Ironically, Miller and team kind of won the Carolina Extreme title by accident. The team was racing in PDRA (Professional Drag Racers Association) with little success so they took a step back and wound up taking two forward. “We needed to run something else where we could keep up and get our stuff together,” Miller said. “We just started learning – not trying to run as fast as we could but trying to learn something we didn’t know on every pass. We needed to learn what to do on a cold track, a hot track, in good air or bad air, gear ratios, blowers, motors, rear ends – all the stuff. We finally started getting a combination together and ran some really good numbers. Then we started progressing and using what we learned in Carolina Extreme and showed it off a little One Step Back Leads to TWO STEPS FORWARD BY ROB GOODMAN DRIVER SPOTLIGHT tylorMILLER