The Mills Family
by Lexi Mills
It's 11:00 p.m. at night and I'm trying to brainstorm new blog ideas. Winters are hard, there's not much racing related to talk about. So here's something new, a blog about my family and upbringing.
I grew up in a suburb outside of Des Moines, Iowa, where the “Sprint Car Capital of the World” is just 45 short minutes away. My brother got into racing around the age of four, and our whole lives have been spent at a racetrack.
Racing has been a family thing. My uncle races a sprint car at the famous half-mile, and our race teams have the biggest family following, in my opinion. My grandmas, great aunts, great uncles, uncles, aunts, cousins, and everything in between, all attend the races weekly. So as you can imagine, we're super close.
My parents sometimes question whether they raised us right. We never skipped races to hang out with friends, we didn't do sports because that meant skipping races, and we hardly attended high school dances. All for racing. Nate and I also grew up to be very independent. I've had a job in racing since I was 12, and I worked at a clothing boutique for two years. Nate started out buying and selling things, while working at a grocery store, and is now working for an electrical company while going to school.
My dad grew up with close to nothing. His mother had built a one room log cabin, with no running water or electricity, in the middle of nowhere in Arkansas. Yet he was still so appreciative of everything he had. My mom and dad both had the same mindset, they wanted to be able to provide everything Nate and I needed, wanted, and more. They worked hard together for the last 21 years. My mom is now a Pharmaceutical sales rep with a nursing background, and my dad successfully owns his own semi. I am so thankful for my upbringing and to call these two incredible people, my parents.
Our parents trusted us, disciplined us just the right amount, and believed in us with whatever we wanted to do. They made all my dreams and wishes come true; I've raced, I've worked for race teams, my Mom and I traveled the Midwest working for the NSL series, they've flown me to places I've dreamed of going, and they're sending me off to Indianapolis this August to attend my perfect college. I couldn't thank them enough for everything they've done and continue to do for me.
The "race family" is like no other family. And I'm so fortunate to have met so many incredible people through racing. The amount of people who have impacted my life in a positive way is something so special to me. If you're a part of the "race family," take a few minutes to just think about how incredibly blessed you are.