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This young nineteen year old woman is none other than AJ Millar, seen by many people in the motorsport world as the first female driver since Michele Mouton to have the potential to win races consistently week in and week out. AJ (Alicia Joanna) was born in Chicago Illinois to an American Father and Polish Mother, but relocated to the United Kingdom during her teenager years and much of her junior racing was spent Go Karting. After completing her formal education, AJ would decide not to attend university and instead throw her hat into the middle hoping for some racing contracts. It would be revealed that AJ had signed a contract to compete in the Junior World Rally Championship. All entries would drive identical Ford Fiestas built to R2 Specifications. During the build up to the season Millar's car would be revealed to the general public.
AJ Millar's Ford Fiesta R2
It would also be revealed that AJ would spend a number of racing weekends in the United States over the course of her rookie season with the intention of driving a number of hot seats during the Xtreme Dirt Tour season, with hopes that she would be able to impress potential team bosses enough to get a permanent drive in 2019. AJ Millar would make a statement ahead of her maiden Junior WRC season.
"The opportunity to be involving in the the World Rally Championship this year within the Junior Category is a massive honour and although I am not completely experienced with this form of racing, I am positive that I will be able to get used to the car and perhaps even score some important points in my first season. I am also offering my services to any of the multiple team involved in the Xtreme Dirt Tour that if they find themselves in need of driver please feel free to contact me, as long as it doesn't clash with by Junior WRC commitments. I have high hopes for myself this year, but until I step into the car and actually start racing in a competitive environment I wouldn't want to make any sort of predictions." - AJ Millar
On Week Six of the calendar year AJ Millar would find herself being offered her first Hot Seat in the Xtreme Dirt Tour as she was offered the chance to the drive the #33 car for Innovation Racing at the Drebin Motor Speedway.
This would be Millar's first competitive race of any discipline of the year, but the first time she had driven a care of this calibre and so would impress prospective future team bosses by qualifying 17th (of 24) with a time of 0"17"152. AJ would remain competitive in the race and manage to climb a total of ten place during Stage One of the Hendricks.com 40 and securing four additional points. For much of the latter stage of the stage Millar had been batting with Schneider but had fallen short in a battle for 6th and had to settle for 7th position at the end of the first stage. From then on Millar would lose some of her pace and finish Stage 2 at 13th, but manage to make two more position in the final stage and finish her first Xtreme Dirt Tour by finishing in 11th place.
Following the race AJ Millar would share her thoughts after her first involvement in the Xtreme Dirt Tour:
"Oval racing is a very different discipline to that which I am used to and there is an element of concentration and determination that is needed throughout the race. I think what I found most frustration is how a caution can close up the field an almost eliminate any progress you might have made over your rivals. I think it is clear that the restart is one of the most important skills to have in this form of racing so I would relish the opportunity to hot seat once again if I am given the opportunity."
AJ would depart the States and fly over to Sweden for Week Seven as Millar was due to take part in the first Junior WRC Race of the season. Millar would reveal that this was the first time in her career that she had driven on snow competitively, and had attempt to practise during the winter but was aware she may struggle slightly at least on her first visit to Sweden. AJ would place 11th in Special Stage One, but then turn heads everywhere when she would surprise everyone including herself when she would actually place 1st in Special Stage Two at the Racing Park to win her first rally stage on her debut race. AJ though would continue to struggle and would have some driving issue with the snow and ice especially when it came to drifting around the longer corners and would finish 10th in Special Stage 3 and 7th in Special Stage Four which would result in AJ Millar finishing in 10th place in the rally with a gap of +1"11"872 behind winner Tom Kristensson. Millar would also have secured a bonus point during the stage as well meaning she had 2 points to her name and currently was 9th in the overall standings.
M-Sport WRT (WRC 2)
Following her debut racing in the Junior WRC, M-Sport would offer a number of rookie drivers the chance to be involved in a tryout with the team in Corsica as part of the allowed preparation ahead of the Tour de Corse. Although no official data would be released, from the pictures that Millar would post on her social media channels it was clear that the younger rookie felt that the testing session had gone well.
Millar would return to Corsica for the second rally in the Junior WRC Calendar a month later in Week Twelve and continue to show elements of consistency and in the four special stages she would finish 9th, 8th, 12th & 8th respectively which would see AJ improve in her performance from Sweden by finishing in 8th place securing an additional four point taking her tally to six points for the season and retaining 9th place in the overall standing. It would then be revealed that AJ Millar had turned down a Hot Seat offer to race at Bristol, as he made the Junior WRC her priority as she had decided a weeks' break wasn't long enough to recover ahead of the Week Seventeen race at Rally Italia.
Millar was clearly on a learning curve, but it was clear that she was doing her best to remain as competitive as possible. Special Stages One and Two would see Millar finishing in 10th and 5th and remain in contact with the midfield of Junior WRC, but Millar would impressive at the second time of asking within the confines of the Racing Park by winning the second stage of her career, only to finish 10th in Special Stage. Millar would have secured an additional five point as she would finish in 8th place once again, taking her tally to 11 points for the season.
Millar would be given the opportunity she had been relishing as she would drive the #27 car for Playfast Motorsports at the TrueTimber Camo 100 for Week Twenty. After the practise session Millar would reveal that she enjoyed driving the track and felt that she understood it much better than she had Drebin, but felt it very strange that it was a track that was used for car as felt it would have been more suited to bikes. Despite her reservations, would send ripples throughout the Xtreme Dirt Tour roster as she would qualify first for race day with a time of 0"16"997 and would find herself lining up on the front row for the first time as a pro. AJ would continue to shine as she would maintain control of the race finishing in 1st place for Stages One and Stages Two, but was forced to pit ahead of Stage Three as her vehicle had suffered significant damage in her desire to score bonus points. After pitting Millar would find herself lining up in 5th on the restart. Millar would do everything in her power to try and secure the lead but would be unable to regain it, as she would finish in 2nd place in Texas. Following quite an incredible performance as a hot seat entry, AJ would speak out.
"I honestly didn't expect to produce such an amazing performance, and I have to thank the engineers at Playfast Motorsports for producing such an exceptionally well built car that gave me all the tools needed to give me the first top five finish of my career in this sport. I hope that this performance combined with my drive at Drebin has done enough to gauge the interest of prospective team for next season as I would love to spend 2019 as full time driver in this Series."
It was revealed that Rally Finland would be Millar's last drive of the season in the Junior WRC, although no reasons were given as why Millar wasn't being entered to compete at Rally GB. Millar would seem to show her consistency in Finland by finishing in 9th, 6th & 10th for the first three special stages of the rally looking on course for another 8th/9th finish for the rally. However, on the final Special Stages of the Rally Millar would slip over the lip of a bend and suffer terminal damage to her car that would result in failing to finish the stage and being handed a 30 minute time penalty that would result in the rookie driver finishing the rally dead last in 13th place.
The Junior WRC Rally would end in Great Britain, but without having a car to drive in AJ Millar rookie season would come to an end. Junior WRC 2018 would be won by Jan Solans with a points total of 150, Kristensson would finish in second with 118. Meanwhile, AJ Millar would end her rookie season in the Junior WRC in 9th place with a total of 11 points. Although would be involved in two days of testing with the Skoda Motorsport for a potential WRC 2 drive. AJ Millar would speak publicly to the press about her prospects for the 2019 season.
"This rookie season has gone much better than I could have ever imagined, although I would have preferred if I had ended by first Junior WRC season a little better and not on a crash. However, with two stages win in my first season in the sport I can have no complaints. I can reveal that I will be working with a different team next season, and I will be working with team that previously worked with Sean Johnston."
AJ Millar's Ford Fiesta R2 (2019 Season)
"I am also incredibly pleased to announce that I will be a full-time member of Innovation Racing in the 2019 Xtreme Dirt Tour and I will line-up as the outfits third driver and that I very much look forward to working with the entire outfit as I will be driving in a #77 car with a black and yellow livery. I want to make it clear that the schedule has been calculated that I won't have to worry about clashing weekends between either of the two disciples that I am involved in. Although, even at this early stage in my career I am aware that sooner or later I know that I am going to have to either choose the Nascar Xfinity and Cup Series or the World Rally Championship as my sole focus."
AJ Millar would end her rookie season by finding herself a drive for the Xtreme Dirt Tour, and also arguably finding herself working a more competitive and reliable team Rally Team ahead of the 2019 season.
AJ Millar would start 2019 with back to back races in the Xtreme Dirt Tour with the first race of the season taking place in Week Two of the calendar year in Las Vegas for the Axalt 50. It would be Millar's first official race with Innovation Racing as the team's third driver, so it was clear there was a lot of pressure on the her. Nonetheless AJ would have reasonable pace in qualifying and manage to earn 16th on the grid with a fast lap of 0:17:405. Prior to the race start though Millar would make it clear during an interview that she felt that the car was very loose around the track, but wasn't sure whether it was the actual track itself that made the drive quite an uncomfortable experience.
In the race itself there would be very little movement on track for AJ who would find herself struck in the midfield as she would bounce as high as eleventh at one point but eventually crossed the finish line two laps behind the race winner Evan Ruttner in 13th place. AJ would earn 24pts to her name as she would prepare herself ahead of the second race of the season at Drebin in Week Six. Drebin was the location where AJ made her DirtCar debut last season when she had finished in 11th - so for the sake of progression there would be a real desire for her to finish in the top ten.
Millar would see massive improvement in her qualifying time improving her time around the oval by 0.786, however it seemed the whole field had improved as well as AJ would still find herself lining up on the starting grid in 17th. There would be similarities with Texas, as AJ Millar would find her #77 car trapped in the midfield and really struggle to make any progress up the field. Having to settle for a 12th place finish (+25pts) which would mean that despite all her hard work, Millar had actually performed worse this season than she had in her rookie season. So flying over to Europe for the first rally of the Junior WRC season couldn't have come at a better time for the American-Pole.
Rally Sweden would take place in Week Seven with Millar racing for a slightly more experienced team clearly with desire of advancing to a high racing tier next season within the rally word and would particularly wanting to improve on her 10th place finish from last season. AJ would arrive in Sweden with a much better understanding of the snowy conditions which would see her outperform herself with a victories in Special Stages 1 & 3, as well as an impressive 2nd in Special Stage 2 with the only real struggle being apparent in the Power Stage where she would lose a considerable amount of time to cross the line in 7th. However, the time made in the first three stages resulted in Millar winning her first ever rally of her career by the margin of 0:03:252 over last season's overall 2nd place finish Tom Kristensson as she finished in 1st place in Rally Sweden. The victory would also mean that Millar had earned herself 27pts to her tally for the season, which was actually 16 more points than she had earned in total in the previous season in the competition. Millar would speak exclusively with Red Bull TV after the rally.
"This rally win is a career defining moment for me, because I am more than aware that for some of the drivers in the paddock this will prove to be the highest level they will be fortunate to drive in this form of motor racing. However, with this maiden win forever held by me - I feel that if this is a sign of things to come than I will have a really good chance of being offered a future drive in the WRC 2 competition. I am aware that I am in a position where I am working for two teams in two very different forms of racing, but at this stage in my career it is as much about my racing profile as it is about their and I am sure that all the Innovation Racing folks in Atlanta will be happy to see one of their drivers having success on the other side of the globe."
AJ would spend a few weeks in the United Kingdom before returning to the States as she would travel to Rossburg, Ohio for her Week Eleven race at the Eldora Speedway.
AJ would look a lot more comfortable as she drove around the Eldora oval and it was no surprise to anyone when she would actually advance to the second session in qualifying to earn herself a time of 00:17:583 that would have the first season driver line up tenth on the grid, and showing to have some real potential for the race proper. The first stage would be the first time in 2019 that Millar would show her true potential as she would climb seven places up the order that would include a tight battle with team mate Cody Brock but would see her manage to get in front of the #33 car to take 3rd in the stage and benefit from the bonus points that come from a top ten finish. The second stage would prove to be slightly more tricky and AJ would find herself heavily bumped a number of times that despite finishing the second stage in 4th, she would be forced to stop in the pits for some quick repairs which would mean that she would line up on the grid at the start of stage three in 15th position. Millar though would show really determination as she would make up a number of positions as she would find herself in 7th as a caution was called and the race would go into overtime, which would be just what Millar needed as the pack would reform the extra laps would allow her to finish in 6th place which would be her best finish of the season with Innovation Racing. The addition of 46pts would put her tally for the season at 95pts with Millar now 9th overall in the points table. AJ wouldn't have too much time to celebrate though, as she was scheduled to be racing in Corsica the following weekend for the second rally of the Junior WRC season at the Tour de Corse in Week Twelve.
AJ Millar would drive the Tour de Corse with the mindset that as long as she improved on her 8th place finish of last season, it would be seen as a positive and Millar would approach the rally with an air of caution being more than aware how unforgiving this rally stage can be to the car itself. Special Stages 1 & 2 would see La Porta - the rally's hill climb stage be used twice in a row, with a descent in the second stage and with a large amount of heavy rain it would prove to be a very difficult stage for all of those involved. Millar would impress though in the ascent by finishing in 3rd, but the descent would prove to be more tricky as she would lose some real time by relying on the break to finish the second stage in 10th. Special Stage 3 would prove to be the most problematic with a 7th place finish occurring as Millar had slid into some tall grass on the side of the road and had smashed into a hidden boulder which had resulted in a large amount of damage being suffered by the car and with AJ knowing she wouldn't be able to have the car worked upon again as were the rules between stages. Much to everyone's disbelief AJ Millar would put on the driving performance of her life, as would manage to surprise everyone and show some real driving mastery as she would claim her fifth career stage, but considering the state of her car most definitely the most impressive. This would result in a 4th place finish for the young driver, adding 18 more points to her tally for the season.
After the race Aleš Rada the technical director of Skoka Motorsports would go out of his way to say that the manner in which AJ Millar had driven in the power stage and won despite having a heavily damaged car, had very much put on her on the team's radar as a driver to consider as potential option for next season.
Millar would fly back to Texas for a race the following weekend in Week Thirteen as she would given the chance to Hot Seat in the Gander RV & Outdoor Truck Series and would do so for Henderson Motorsports. It would be the first time that Millar had every competitively race in a truck series, and it was clear to many spectators that at time she looked a little bit lost at least with some of some of her transition on the third corner. Millar would finish the race in 15th place, but wouldn't seem very interested in talking about the experience following the race which was understandable considering her next two races in the Xtreme Dirt Tour would be taking place in Charlotte and Bristol.
Week Fifteen would see AJ Millar race at Charlotte for the first time in her career at 'The Dirt Track' which for many drivers part of the Xtreme Dirt Tour seen as one of the most fun, but also more challenging circuits of the season. AJ's progress in qualifying would seem to be on an upwards gradient as she would reach the second session and post a top ten time, placing herself on the grid in 9th position with a time of 0:17:924. Millar would make the point that she felt turning around the corners felt like one smooth transition, almost as if the Innovation Racing vehicle had been built purposely for this exact circuit. The first session would prove to be the most important for AJ as she would climb from 9th to 4th and for the rest of the race manage to hold her position and climb one place overall to finish in 3rd place and claim her first Top Five finish of the season. She would add 48pts to her total points tally taking herself to 143pts standing in 7th place in the overall standings.
A fortnight later (Week Seventeen) the Dirt Cars would find themselves taking part in the Wrangler 100 at the iconic Bristol Motor Speedway. Millar's good run of form would see her advance to the third session of qualifying with a time of 0:18:402 ling up on the second row of the grid in 4th place. The itself would be marred with yellow flags and cautions and AJ Millar would suffer the brunt of a number of different shunts. On lap eight AJ would be shoved into a wall and be forced to pit, causing her to lineup on the grid in 22nd at the restart which was a drop of 18 positions. She would manage to climb back up to 10th by the end of the first stage, but it was clear that she was not happy by the way she was talking with her pit crew. To make matters worse as she crossed the line at the end of the first stage she would take further damage, meaning for the second caution in a row she was forced to return to the pit for more work and would lineup in 23rd at the restart.
AJ would have a fantastic second session though and would cut through the field to recover her race by finishing the second stage in 9th position. In the third stage her progress up the field would continue and she would find herself in 5th position before a timely caution would be called that would tighten up the field once again. AJ would finish the race in 4th place, and would be unlikely not to finish in 3rd but would have an on track scrape with Tony Stewart that would cause the race to end on a caution. Millar would end the fortnight with two top five finishes at two iconic locations, but would have to once again earn her frequent flyer miles as she would travel to Sardinia for Rally Italia.
Millar would arrive in Italy in good form from her previous races in the Xtreme Dirt Tour, but also with a Rally Sweden win to her name and three stage wins for the season she came into the Rally Italia filled with confidence. And her determination and focus would really shine through as she would come first in Special Stage 1, 2 & 4 and 3rd in Special Stage 3 that would see her be head and shoulders above her rivals as she would claim her second career win by claiming the Rally Italia 2019 crown by finishing in 1st place, and also double her number of stages wins for the season. The win would also send her to top of the overall standings with a 5pts points margin over second place Jan Solans.
Millar would return to the States with the knowledge she would be racing at two different tracks in two different disciplines for the Week Nineteen. Millar would find herself returning to Texas for the first time since her 2nd place position she achieved in her rookie season although she had achieved this finish with Playfast Motorsport, which had a much better racing package than the Innovation Racing team possessed. Millar would real fight in the race and race clean after having qualified 12th and end up finishing the race in 4th place overall further adding to her tally for the season with 221 points standing in 7th in the overall standing. However, in the playoff standing she was actual in 9th place. AJ Millar would be clipped in making the comment after the race that "she was doing her best, in a less than powerful car - for a team that were true underdogs".
As soon as Millar finished in Texas she would be driven to the Airport and get on the first flight to Iowa as she was set to compete at the M&M's 200 for Nemco Motorsports. Millar would look incredibly comfortable in the the Ford and would complete her second GOTS Hot Seat by finishing in 4th position. With suggestions after the race that AJ Millar was more than likely to be signed to a team for the 2020 season. Millar would be in the knowledge that the next three race would all be as part of the Xtreme Dirt Tour, and that she would need some positive results to earn herself a position in the playoffs.
For all the drivers in the field Jefferson Raceway (Week Twenty Three) was seen as a race that was very much out of place in the calendar year, as none of the car were built with this race in mind as it was the only time in the season where car would be turning right. The strange event was filled with various cautions that would allow AJ who had qualified in 14th to progress up the field and finish in 6th place overall, although was now 8th place in the playoff standing and looking in real need of some playoff points in the next two races.
Millar would arrive at Taggart (Week Twenty Five) for the Mtn Dew 100 really needing some stage wins to help secure herself a spot in the playoffs, but after qualifying in 14th had really put the pressure on herself. On a track in which she was visibly struggling with as she tried to send the car around the corners Millar would have to settle with an 8th place finish, but to make matters worse had fallen out of the top eight in the playoff standing and was now out of reach by 29 points, but would need a lot more to guarantee herself a part in the playoffs.
Richmond Raceway would be a do or die race for Millar who would be required to have her best drive of the season if she had any hopes of securing a playoff berth and that is exactly what she would manage to do by qualifying on the first row of the grid in 2nd place 0:23:830. The race itself would prove to be even better as AJ would overtake Todd LeGare on the very first lap of the race and maintain the lead for the next 49 laps winning all three stages and securing her first ever Xtreme Dirt Tour race victory as she finished in 1st place but had also managed to leap frog a number of her rivals to earn a spot in the playoffs in her very first full season.
Position
Drivers
Points Difference
Playoff Points
Points
1st
Tony Stewart
+21
31
2031
2nd
Leslie Gomez
+13
23
2023
3rd
AJ Millar
+3
13
2013
4th
John Schneider
0
10
2010
5th
Anthony Norton
0
10
2010
6th
Todd LeGare
0
10
2010
7th
Evan Ratner
-2
8
2008
8th
Evan Brown
-5
5
2005
Following her progression into the playoffs, the following week Millar would drive her final hot seat in the truck series at Picno (Week Twenty Six) at the unique triangle circuit) and continue her positive Hot Seat performances by finishing the race in 6th place. Before her scheduled flight to Finland for the fourth rally of the Junior WRC AJ would speak to the press.
"I think I can speak for everyone at Innovation Racing when I say that I am really thrilled to have reached the final eight and got us into the playoffs, because I know for a fact that this was a target that no one in Atlanta had set for me to achieve. Every single member of the Innovation Racing team works really hard, but it it no secret that our power unit isn't the strongest in the field, so I feel a lot pressure on my shoulder trying to produce the best possible results for these great folks that gave me this life changing opportunity. An opportunity to that has really sprung be forward, as I now find myself in a position where a number of team involved in the Gander RV Outdoor Truck Series have started to contact me with potential drive options for 2020. When I started my racing career as a teenager in the United Kingdom I must admit I had never considered oval racing as an option, but now I find myself in a position where I couldn't imagine myself doing anything else. With five races left in the Xtreme Dirt Tour I am going to do everything in my power to attempt to get myself in the final four for the season finale at Eldora, but I honestly feel as this season has already been a victory."
Prior to AJ beginning her playoff run in the Xtreme Dirt Tour, she would fly to Finland (Week Twenty Seven) to take part in the fourth rally of the year. AJ would seek to have a much better showing than in her rookie season, as on the final stage of Rally Finland in 2019 she had crashed the car and been unable to him the rally which had resulted in her receiving a 30 minute time penalty and finishing in 13th. Considering her aspirations of a Junior WRC Championship title, it was imperative that Millar performed better in Finland this time round.
Special Stage One would prove to be problematic for Millar however, as she would mistime a jump which would result in the car landing on itself and proceeding to barrel roll over five times in a row. Fortunately, the car landed back on its tyres and AJ would manage to miraculously complete the stage in 6th place but the car looked as if it had been hit by a bomb. The car would really unravel in SS2 with the car's suspension and steering effectively giving out result in a 13th place stage finish. AJ would return to the service park in 10th place overall, 52 seconds behind the leader. The car would undergo some major work, but their simply wouldn't be enough time to fix all the damage. Millar would inform interviewers that she would approach Day 2 with an all guns blazing attitude, in that she was either going to make make up the time lost or be forced to retire the car for the second year in the road. Millar made it clear that this was not the time to take her foot off the throttle. AJ though would do what was needed of her as she would win both Special Stage 3 & 4 - with the extra points coming from the power stage victory aiding her causing as she would finish Rally Finland in 3rd place. With just one rally left in the season she had a point tally of 100pts and was just three behind overall leader Jan Solans. Millar was now in the knowledge that no matter what the result in Rally GB, the worst she could do was come 3rd overall for the year.
Before returning to the States, AJ would participate in a Trial Event with Skoda Motorsports at the Portugal Sports Park, which would prove be a success as Millar would post the fastest time during the event and very much be seen as a driver that Skoda would be signing for the 2020 season.
Millar's first run in the Xtreme Dirt Tour Playoffs would see her race in back to back weekend in Week Twenty Eight & Week Twenty-Nine. The first race weekend would take place at Drebin for the DirtyMo Media with Millar finally seeming to have a better understanding of the track as she would post a time of 16:417 in qualifying to line up 7th on the grid, but would actually start 6th on the day because of one of the car ahead of her needing a work in the pits ahead of the race. The race wouldn't go as well as hope as she would finish 8th in the first stage and 7th in the second stage, but would look to have really gained some important points only to be overtaken on the line by fellow playoff contender Evan Browner resulting in a 5th place finish in Drebin.
The next race would see the cars return to the circuit at Jefferson for the TMC51 with Millar really needing to win some early stage to give her a solid chance of earning a position in the top four, but after qualifying in 19th this seemed unlikely. In a race in which the field was marred by crashes and cautions, the race would be forced into overtime on three separate occasions and on the final restart Millar would find herself on the grid in 5th place. In the final two laps of the race Millar would really climb up the standing and finish in 2nd place for the day. Millar would very much remain in the hunt, as both Todd LeGare and John Schneider would both automatically advance to the playoff finals, being unable to be mathematically caught by anyone else in the field.
AJ would return to Europe to race in Wales (Week Thirty One) for Rally GB, with the clear intention of trying to claim a first Junior WRC crown but this would also be the first time that Millar would drive on this location, with AJ not having bee registered to compete during last year's championship. The rally would offer a very unique challenge in both its terrain and the unpredictable British weather, but Millar would start the rally well by placing 2nd in Special Stage One and 4th in Special Stage Two meaning that she had a 10 seconds advantage over Solans going into the final day of the competition. Millar though would really suffer from the weather in Special Stage Three as a heavy rain shower in the middle of the stage would massively effect the road and the tyre grip that would force Millar to drive more cautiously to keep the car intact, but unfortunately a massive chunk of time was lost as she would come 11th in the stage but more dramatically lose twenty seven seconds to Solans who now had a 17 second time advantage over his title challenger. Millar would come 2nd in the Special Stage Four and enjoys the benefits of the extra points from the power stage, but the disappointing performance in Special Stage 3 had resulted in Millar finishing 5th place in the rally, although considering it was her first time participating in the rally was not a bad result at all.
Nonetheless, with Millar not finishing ahead of Solans she would be unable to achieve her dream of a winning the Junior Rally Championship. Finishing2nd place overall in just two season in the sports was nothing short of brilliance however, with a number of WRC 2 Pro team clearly having shown an interest in the young American-Pole.
Position
Driver
Points
Rally Wins
1st.
Jan Solans
121
France & Finland
2nd.
AJ Millar
116
Sweden & Italy
3rd.
Tom Kristensson
112
Wales GB
"Come in 2nd overall in just two season is a really great feeling for me, as I am aware that there are some members of this field that have to drive in this class for half a decade before they manage to reach the position that I am now in. As disappointing as I am not to have won the championship, Jan is a really great driver so I can't be too disappointed to lose the man that has won this competition two years in a row, although to offer him more of challenge than last year really shows how well myself and Kristensson drove this year. With five rallies in the season, and the top three drivers being the sole winners this season shows the type of drivers by two title runners were this season. I am unsure on what I will be doing next season, but I won't make any decisions until I have finished by season in the Xtreme Dirt Tour."
With only three races left in the Xtreme Dirt Tour season, Week Thirty Two would see the field would return to Taggart for the Pilot Flying 100. Millar would produce a better qualifying than she had earlier in the season as she would post a a time of 0:21:430 that would put her up to 8th on the starting grid. AJ would claim 6th in the first stage and 7th in the second stage, but the third stage would be marred with a yellow flags because of a number of cautions, unfortunately Millar would be forced to pit late on and would be forced to race in overtime much further back then they would of hoped and end the race in 10th place. After the race AJ Millar would make it publicly clear that she felt that "I am not driving a top eight car, but I am a top eight driver."
The last race in the playoffs semi finals would see the Tour return to Charlotte for the Goody's 100 in Week Thirty Three. Millar would improve qualifying time by just over 0:800 seconds by starting on the on the second row of the grid in 4th position. AJ would have a really good first stage in which she wouldn't just finish in 2nd position, but also manage to lap three of her playoff competitors really which was clearly an important way of gaining an advantage in this last week before the final. The second session would see Millar continue to battle, and find herself right on Todd LeGare's rear bumper but just unable to take the race lead and take 2nd position once again. Millar would be unfortunate in the final session, and would drop a few places down the order as she would end the Goody's 100 by coming in 5th place. However, it would emerge that AJ Millar had done what was required and had made the Top Four going into the final race of the season.
Driver
Team
Points
Tony Stewart
Smoke Racing
3000
Todd LeGare
Northfield Sports
3000
John Schneider
Northfields Sports
3000
AJ Millar
Innovation Racing
3000
The final race of the season (Week Thirty Four) would take place at Eldora and qualifying would play a massive effect on the way the playoffs looked likely to go on race day. Tony Stewart and John Schneider had qualified in 7th and 10th respectively and would find themselves starting the race in traffic, whilst Todd LeGare would start in pole position with the young AJ Millar starting alongside their playoff rival in 2nd position. The race would very much turn into a direct battle of LeGare vs. Millar, but LeGare would have the more powerful driving unit which was clearly to his advantage and with two Northfield Sports car in the finals it was clear the team had the championship on their mind. AJ would do her best to stay on LeGare's tail but would have to settle with a 2nd position finish at the end of session one and session two. LeGare was certainly claiming important points, but the third session would be just as tough with AJ seeming unable to overtake LeGare. On the final lap of the race, LeGare made a mistake on the final corner and by some miracle AJ Millar was able to push in front and take victory on the line to come in 1st place, having led zero laps during the entire race.
Position
Drivers
Points Difference
Points
1st
AJ Millar
Champion
3040
2nd
Todd LeGare
-5
3035
3rd
John Schneider
-10
3030
4th
Tony Stewart
-16
3024
The points would all be tallied and it would be revealed that AJ Millar had seemingly done the impossible and become the Xtreme Dirt Tour 2019 World Champion, despite having done so in a vehicle that nowhere the level of its' playoff rivals.
"This is the highlight of my racing career so far, to be a world champion is something that drivers can only dream of - so to do it on the basis of my driving ability rather than an overpowered motor unit is just that much more special. I want to thank Innovation Racing for having offered me to drive with them on what has been my first full season as part of this Xtreme Dirt Tour, and I know that just like the team bosses in Atlanta this was an end to the season that I had no been expecting. WORLD CHAMPION BAYBAY!"
Xtreme Dirt Tour - Career Results
Location
Year
Team
Position
Drebin
2018
Innovation Racing (Hot Seat)
11th
Texas
2018
Playfast Motorsport (Hot Seat)
2nd
Las Vegas
2019
Innovation Racing
13th
Drebin
2019
Innovation Racing
12th
Eldora
2019
Innovation Racing
6th
Charlotte
2019
Innovation Racing
3rd
Bristol
2019
Innovation Racing
4th
Texas
2019
Innovation Racing
4th
Jefferson
2019
Innovation Racing
6th
Taggart
2019
Innovation Racing
8th
Richmond
2019
Innovation Racing
1st
Drebin
2019
Innovation Racing
5th
Jefferson
2019
Innovation Racing
2nd
Taggart
2019
Innovation Racing
10th
Charlotte
2019
Innovation Racing
5th
Eldora
2019
Innovation Racing
1st
It would revealed that AJ Millar had opted to not participate in the 2020 season of the Xtreme Dirt Tour, but instead had signed a contract with Halmar Friesen Racing joining the team as their second driver and would be taking part in the Gander RV Outdoor Truck Series in 2020 driving a orange/white livery truck as #65 next season. It would be revealed that the extra engineers that had been employed by Innovation Racing to support Millar had parted ways with Innovation, as they had been retained by AJ Millar to be part of a new project in the Xtreme Dirt Tour.
It was unveiled that AJ Millar had purchased a team with the some of the prize money from winning the Xtreme Dirt Tour and had chosen to name the team 'Team Poland' clearly a dedicated to her mother's native land. It was revealed that 'Team Poland' was a project in which Millar wanted to create a team to give veteran drivers and rookies a chance to transition and transfer their skills into oval racing. It would be revealed that Alfa Romeo Racing (F1) Test Driver Robert Kubica had been offered the drive for the 2020 season, with the option to renew if he finished the season in the Top 12.
Not long after AJ Millar announcer her involvement in the 2020 Gander RV Outdoor Truck Series, it would also emerge that Skoda Motorsport had in fact decided to sign AJ Millar to a WRC 2 Pro contract for the 2020 season and it would emerge that this promotion had been part of the reason why Millar had been unable to race in the Xtreme Dirt Tour despite having previously made purchases to create her own team. It would be revealed that Millar's hiring hadn't been made with the intention of her winning the 2020 Championship, but rather to be able to consistently score points in the constructors championship.
Junior World Rally Championship - Career Results
Location
Year
Team
Position
Stage Results
Rally Sweden
2018
Ford Fiesta R2 (Independent Car #1)
10th
11 | 1 | 10 | 7
Tour De Corse (France)
2018
Ford Fiesta R2 (Independent Car #1)
8th
9 | 8 | 12 | 8
Rally Italia Sardegna (Italy)
2018
Ford Fiesta R2 (Independent Car #1)
8th
10 | 5 | 1 | 10
Rally Finland
2018
Ford Fiesta R2 (Independent Car #1)
13th
8 | 9 | 10 | DNF
Rally Sweden
2019
Ford Fiesta R2 (Independent Car #2)
1st
1 | 2 | 1 | 7
Tour De Corse (France)
2019
Ford Fiesta R2 (Independent Car #2)
4th
3 | 10 | 7 | 1
Rally Italia Sardegna (Italy)
2019
Ford Fiesta R2 (Independent Car #2)
1st
1 | 1 | 3 | 1
Rally Finland
2019
Ford Fiesta R2 (Independent Car #2)
3rd
6 | 13 | 1 | 1
Wales Rally GB (United Kingdom)
2019
Ford Fiesta R2 (Independent Car #2)
5th
2 | 4 | 11 | 2
AJ Millar would leave the Junior World Rally Championship classification with ten stage wins across two seasons (nine races) as well as having outright winning Rally Sweden 2019 & Rally Italia 2019.
It was revealed that the six races that AJ Millar had been registered to drive in for the 2020 season were Mexico, France, Portugal, Finland, Great Britain & Australia., meaning that AJ would drive at three locations she had never visited before and for the first time would race outside Europe in an official competition purpose rally car. With Skoda not having a presence in the WRC (main competition) you had to wonder how long they would be able to hold onto the young driver who was already drawing comparisons to Michele Mouton who up to this moment was the most successful female rally driver with four rally wins in the main competition. With women seeming to get much more of an opportunity in the States though, the rally world could potentially lose any chance of even seeing Millar in an WRC car if the Xfinity Series managed to sign her to a contract first.
AJ Milar would begin the 2020 Gander RV Outdoors Truck Series, with every single one of her fellow drivers including team-mate Stewart Freisen knowing that she had only driven a truck three times in her entire life, and not just in her career although with a Top Five finish at last year’s M&M’s 200 at Iowa it had been clear that this young twenty one year old was full of potential, having won one last season’s Xtreme Dirt Tour and placing 2nd in the Junior World Rally Championship. Although, the Nascar Truck Series offered a very different challenge. And this seemed to be even more apparent, as the 2020 season would begin with the NextEra Energy 250 at Dayton (arguably one of the toughest races on the racing calendar).
And this transition between the classifications seemed to have become even more apparent as AJ would qualify dead last with a time of 50:823 to line up 32nd on the last row of the grid for the first race of her full season in the series. Millar would make the point that she found the unique system of only running two qualifying laps as being quite peculiar and was not a discipline she was used to. A further point must be added, that despite her career having been relatively short AJ Millar has consistently shown that she is much better with her race pace than she is with her qualifying laps. In the race itself though Millar would have a really impressive start making a number of places and for a number of laps would have an impressive battle with fellow female driver Jennifer Jo Cobb, although from the aggressive manner in which Cobb was driving it looked as if she was hazing the rookie by trying to force her off the road. Millar would remain resilient however, managing to get away from Cobb and starting climbing more places. She would manage to slot behind John Hunter Nemechek and allow a draft to occur that would push both of them forward, and it was clear that Millar’s 4th place in the NEMCO was enough of a reason why Nemechek was willing to work with the young rookie. The drafting would pay off as Millar would finish the first session in 12th position with Nemechek up to 11th.
(John Hunter Nemechek)
The session session would see AJ continue to make some real progressions as she would climb up the board even further reaching as high as 4th but when a caution was called after she was shunted into the side wall by Ben Rhodes, Millar would stop in pit row for some repairs and fresh tyres as the second would come to an end as the caution was called as she find herself in 21st place, but to make the situation worse as the start of the third stage she would find herself back where she had started in 32nd position.
The third stage of the race would be a very interesting spectacle for racing fans, as all the pent up frustrations from last season seemed to come out whilst a number of drivers were clearly willing to go all out and take risks at the possibility of glory at Daytona. With twenty laps to go in the race a caution would be called and by some miracle Millar had weaved through traffic and avoided a massive pileup of car and had found herself up to 11th on the grid. Millar would continue to climb up the grid and would find herself battling with Korbin for 4th position as a second caution in the stage would be called. At the restart Millar would manage to break away from the field with Matt Crafton forming a group of their own with the pair working in tandem to create separation from the rest of the field bouncing 1st and 2nd between the two of them. After just four laps another caution would be called that would bunch up the field once more, and the restart would see a YoYo effect of Millar, Hill, Crafton and Chastain bouncing from 1st-4th with all four looking like they were in with a chance of winning. However, yet another caution would take place that would send the race into overtime.
Millar would have the best start on the restart and would maintain the lead for the remaining two laps and seemingly do the impossible by winning at Daytona on her first race of her rookie season in the Nascar Truck Series. Not only had AJ Millar finished the race in 1st place, but she had also made history by becoming the first ever woman to win a race in the Nascar Truck Series.
“This is a career defining moment for me. I have just been told by my crew that in just my fourth race in the Nascar Truck Series, I am already the most successful female driver of all time. That is quite an unusual thing to consider having achieved, in my first race as an official member of the grid this season but I am hopeful this means that I can deliver a number of race victories not just for myself but also for the Halmar Friesen Racing Team that giving me this tremendous opportunity to race for them this year. I also want to go on the record to wish one of my idols and inspirations Robert Kubica the best of luck next week as he is due to compete at Las Vegas in the XDT next week for ‘Team Poland’ I very hopeful that this new venture I have created is only going to lead to positive things for Dirt Car racing.” Millar’s next four races will see travel to Atlanta, Las Vegas and Martinsville as well as making her WRC 2 Pro Debut with Rally Mexico on the cards.
The second race of the season would see Millar’s #65 car at Atlanta on the fifth row after qualifying in 9th. The race itself would see AJ impress in the first stage, but would have to really battle for the rest of the race to fight for position. Millar would end up finishing the race in 7th place after managing to overtake Austin Hill on the line for a photo finish needed as the time differential was 0.016 seconds.
Millar’s good run of form would continue into the next race at Las Vegas Speedway as she would qualifying 6th ahead of the race and show an increased level of consistency by finishing 5th for both the first and second stage, but as her tyres started to suffer degradation she would start sliding up to the top of the track and would lose a considerable amount of time finishing the race in 11th place. Millar would seem to be in good spirits after three races in the Nascar Truck Series and would be handed a break from the trucks as she was due to compete in her rally of the season in Mexico, which would be her first WRC 2 Pro of the season.
Millar would race in her first ever rally in Mexico as she would find herself driving the Škoda Fabia R5 Evo for the first time in her career, but it would be a significant upgrade from the Ford Fiesta R2 she had been driving for the past two seasons. AJ would show exactly why she had been brought in as one of Skoda’s drivers for the WRC 2 Pro season and would claim impressive finishes of 3rd (Special Stage 1) and 4th (Special Stage 2) for the first day of the rally, before really turning heads by claiming her first WRC 2 Pro rally stage win by coming 1st in SS3. However, as AJ tackled the unforgiving El Chocolate Power Stage the car would suffer irreparable damage and she would be unable to complete the stage. This would result in Millar being handed a massive thirty minute time penalty and finishing Rally Mexico in dead last by finishing in 15th place. Millar would be quoted stating: “This race was a really tough realisation of just how large the step up is from the Junior WRC - I know I should be happy claiming my first WRC 2 stage win, but not finishing the rally is just massively disappointing.
Millar would race in her fourth Nascar Super Truck race by visiting Martinville, Virginia for the first time in her career in which would be her first time racing a truck on a short track. AJ would claim an impressive 2nd position through qualifying, and her ability of setting a fast lap had only gone from better to better in the first four rounds of the series. So when Millar claimed 1st at the end of the first stage, it looked as though this might be another standout race day for Millar and she would continue to show her skill set by claiming 2nd at the end of stage two. Millar would truly dominate and would manage to gain a large time gap from the rest of the field as she would finish the race with a massive haul of points in 1st place, and by doing so had won her second race of the season.
Millar would depart Martinsville with a scheduled second rally of the season at the Tour de Corse before she would race at Texas, Dover, Kansas and Charlotte with a scheduled testing session with the Hyundai WRC in Chile the weekend following the Vankor 350 in Texas.
AJ would line-up for the third Tour Du Corse of her career, although this time round she would race in a much more powerful car. In the Junior WRC Millar had finished 8th (2018) & 4th (2019) and considering how much of a disaster Mexico had proven to be it was clear the new addition to the WRC 2 Pro classification really needed to have an important result in Corsica. Millar would start the rally well by finishing Special Stage 1 in 6th, but would nearly suffer a disaster as she wouldn’t be informed of an overturned car on her path and would be lucky to not fall off the side of road as she did her best to avoid it. Millar would manage to claim her second stage win of the season, although had a lost a lot of time avoiding the damaged car. Special Stage 4 would be the Antisanti (Reverse) with Power Stage points up for grabs, but a heavy storm mid-stage would affect Millar’s grip as she would have to settle for 5th. By less than a second though, Millar had seemingly done the impossible by coming 3rd in the French Rally and after four races of the season (only haven driven two herself) Skoda Motorsports currently sat top of the Manufacturer’s Standings.
Millar would return from Europe in what would be her second time racing in the Vankor 350, she had finished 15th in 2019 taking up a Hot Seat for Henderson Motorsports. AJ would have a really impressive qualification by starting the race in 3rd and would finish 2nd at the end of both the first and second stages with it being clear that AJ had been intending to try and win the stages for some important playoff points. Millar would find herself unable to avoid a big crash in the backfield and would be forced to pit under caution and in what looked like a race she had a chance of winning, Millar would have to settle for a 10th place finish in Texas. Following the race, Millar would travel to Chile to test drive the Hyundai WRC car although no data would be revealed on this test.
The Jegs 200 at Dover would be the sixth race of the season in the Truck Series, but it was quite clear from the practise sessions that this wasn’t going to be a race where Millar would be favoured by her qualifying time and would line up in 20th position on the grid. The race proper would be one marred by yellow flags cautions in a track that is often tricky to tackle considering it not been viewed as a short track nor a speedway. Notable moments would include Sheldon Creed tailgating Millar and seeming to have an intent to take out Halmar Freisen’s 2nd driver only for Creed to suffer the karma and spin themselves out which would lead to a caution and the first stage ending with Millar placing in 8th. Creed would seem intent on trying to take out Millar, but AJ would do her best to defend her position and have to settle for 7th at the end of the second stage. The final stage would see Stewart Freisen taking a lead in the race with Millar seeming to have been tasked with the job of defending her team-mate but would have to settle the race by finishing in 3rd place as Sheldon Creed would force their way into 2nd as Millar would backoff unwilling to be taken out and miss out on a potential Top Five position.
The Nascar Truck series would move on to Kansas, where Millar would have her worst qualifying session of the season as would make a fatal mistake on her outlap and wreck her car meaning she wouldn’t even post a qualifying lap and start the race in dead last. Despite starting at the back of the grid Millar would seem to have some real race pace and find herself up to 12th at the end of stage one and only climb further up the order as would end stage two in 5th position. With ten laps to go in the race, it was clear that a number of drivers were pushing for the front of the race which would result in a number of cautions being called and Millar had just been sitting back doing her best to avoid any trouble and would benefit from it as the race would move into overtime, and Millar would take lead of the race on the last lap and go on to win in Kansas by finishing in 1st place claiming her second win of the season in the Nascar Truck Series. After the race, Stewart Friesen would share his thoughts on Millar.
“I don’t think there can be any denying that AJ is a raw talent, but I think it would be unfair to pigeon hole her as the most successful woman in Nascar of all time despite the facts already stating it to be so. What you have to think is that in just six races, this young driver has already won two races. I have spent most of my career racing DirtCars, but after AJ’s rookie season in the Xtreme Dirt Tour I made it very clear to everyone at Halmar that we needed to sign AJ as a second driver. And it is paying off, as we have three wins between us both. I also have no problem with Millar finishing above me in the standings, as I personally feel as though Millar is someone we should expect to see racing in the Cup Series within the next five year minimum.”
Millar would start in 13th position in Charlotte and would continue to show her solid run of form by placing in 6th and 4th at the end of the first two stages of the race, but would suffer a blown front right tyres with sixteen laps to go and would be forced to pit but luckily a caution would be called so she wouldn’t lose to many places because of the yellow flags being waved. Millar would have to settle by ending the race in 11th place. Millar would leave Charlotte and head straight to the airport as she would be travelling to Portugal for her third race of her rally season.
AJ Millar would arrive in Portugal, with her only previous stage being her tryout for Skoda at Lousad. AJ would absolutely dominate in Portugal as she would breeze past her competition and win every singles stage and thus leave with a massive haul of 30 points and claiming her maiden WRC 2 Pro victory by finishing in 1st place. AJ would be quoted: “I want to thank everyone at Skoda Motorsports for building such a fantastic car, that this weekend felt like it was unbeatable. Weekends like these are ones of dreams.”
Millar would return to Texas for the second time this season, for the much longer Speedycash.com 400 and would have another impressive qualifying session in Texas by lining up on the third row by starting in 5th. Millar would go on to claim some real important playoff points as she would finish stage one in 1st by pipping Brett Moffit on the line and continue to control the race by also finishing 1st at the end of stage two. The third stage would prove to be really competitive with Sutter and Moffit offering a real challenge for the lead with the trio trading places as the lap count went down and as the race ended all three would cross the line with 0.100 seconds splitting all three of them. A photo finish would award Sutter the victory with AJ Millar ending the race in 2nd place. With Millar having had a really positive start to her Nascar Truck Series so far after nine races.
Millar’s Xtreme Dirt Tour team ‘Team Poland’ represented by veteran driver Robert Kubica had really been on the up with an upwards correlation of improving qualifying times leading to higher placed finishes. Kubica had qualified in 20th in Las Vas to finish 13th and then had a 17th position start in Drebin to finish the race in 14th. It became apparent from Kubica’s driving style, that he was starting to employ some of the skills he had picked up by driving in the WRC between 2013-2016. Eldora would see Kubica claiming his first top five finish in Eldora by finishing in 5th, only to do even better in Charlotte by finishing in 2nd with the fifth race in the Xtreme Dirt Tour seeing Kubica claiming his first DirtCar career win at Bristol in what would also be the team’s first victory.
