Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Show held
in Indianapolis last December. The announce-
ment was one of the biggest drag racing-related
happenings at the show, and for obvious reasons.
The 22-year-old was stepping into the red-hot
no-prep scene in what has been described as
one of the most competitive no-prep cars in the
country. It won six out of nine events in the Fu-
ture Street Outlaws class on the No Prep Kings
tour in 2019, more than earning a slot on the
Discovery show. Still, Mills was surprised by the
reaction to her announcement.
“I really didn’t think it would be that big of a
deal,” Mills starts, “but everyone was talking about
it. My dad just started putting my name stickers
on the window and people would stop and talk
about it. Then I posted it on my Instagram and
it immediately started blowing up.”
B
EFORE DIVING into the subject of how Mills
ended up moving into the “Golden Kong,”
it’s important to first get an idea of her
background in racing. Her father’s résumé
is well-known – No Mercy 7 Radial vs. the
World champion, 2016 NMCA Radial Wars world
champion, first Radial vs. the World driver in the
3.60s, etc. – but what are Kallee’s credentials?
Like most drag racers in her age bracket,
Mills started out in Jr. Dragsters, but it almost
didn’t go that way. She raced four-wheelers for a
year when she was young, but her mother, Tara,
wasn’t a fan of her daughter racing around with-
out a cage surrounding her. DeWayne was deep
into the sprint car racing scene at the time, and
he almost started Kallee down that path before
she objected.
“My dad actually tried to get me to run sprint
cars because I had a little go-kart that I would
ride around on the big piece of property we had,”
Mills says. “And so he’s like, ‘Man, she sets up the
corners good. We need to get her in the sprint car.’
And I was like, ‘No. I ain’t racing that. I don’t like
dirt. I like to keep myself clean and nice.’ And
so he bought me a Jr. Dragster and it all started
from there.”
It was the perfect balance for Mills, who says
she was a mix between a tomboy and a girly
girl growing up. Her other hobbies included
competitive dance, cheerleading and showing
pigs through the local FFA chapter. “I was like
the dream child,” Mills laughs. “I was the only
child. So my dad and my mom got the best of
both worlds.”
A fair amount of success followed in Jr. Drag-
sters, as Mills racked up multiple track champi-
onships at Tulsa Raceway Park, two Wallys and
late-round finishes at the NHRA Western Con-
ference Finals in Denver. As she grew closer to
aging out of Jr. Dragsters, her attention switched
to the next step.
MILLS HAS BEEN EARNING HER DOORSLAMMER RACING
STRIPES IN X275 BEHIND THE WHEEL OF HER SINGLE-
TURBO “GOLDEN PANDA” ‘68 CAMARO. SHE’S BEEN TO
THREE FINALS IN MID-WEST PRO MOD SERIES X275
COMPETITION, WITH PLANS TO KEEP RACING IN THE
CLASS THIS SEASON.
“My dad asked me what I wanted for a car, a
street car,” she says, “and I was like, ‘Dad, I don’t
want a new car. I just want you to build me a
race car.’ So he put together what we now call
the ‘Golden Panda.’”
By the time the car was fully prepped for X275
competition by Matheis Race Cars, complete with
a 427ci Pro Line engine and an 85mm Precision
turbo, Mills was ready to head off to college.
“My dad wanted me to concentrate on school
because that’s something that I hold really im-
portant, education, and making sure that I have
what I need to make it in life and be successful,”
Mills says. “So I didn’t really race much right
when they got the car done.”
Mills stayed involved in racing, though, flying
into races to crew on her father’s “Golden Gorilla”
Radial vs. the World entry. She then started racing
the “Golden Panda” in X275 races during the
summers, but once school started back up in the
fall, school activities got her full focus.
70 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
Issue 155