Now a father to a newborn daughter, Justin Milliken has a new outlook on life and new focus heading into the season opening race at Myrtle Beach Speedway in South Carolina.
That race will Milliken’s first race as a father. His wife, Carmen, gave birth to his daughter, Shelby, during the offseason. While conventional wisdom says having a family might slow Milliken down, he says he is only more focused and more determined to win now than ever before.
“I cannot wait to get a picture of her as a baby in victory lane that I can show her one day and say ‘I used to do that’,” Milliken said. “Hopefully, in about five years, we’ll have us a Quarter Midget or Go-Kart. I can’t wait for that day. Having Shelby has not changed my focus at all. In fact, it’s given me new focus. After what happened at the Myrtle Beach 400, it’s hard not to go in focused.”
Milliken takes great pride and joy in being a father and he certainly hopes Shelby, who he takes to the race shop with him, will be the next generation of racecar driver in the family.
“It’s awesome having her,” an enthusiastic Milliken stated. “She’s something else dude. We were all that small at one time. It’s great. One thing that is so awesome is taking her to see her granddaddy and watching those two walk around and look around in our shop while I’m working on the racecar.”
Milliken’s luck in the Myrtle Beach 400 is almost comparable to Dale Earnhardt’s luck at the Daytona 500 prior to his triumph in the Great American Race in 1998. That luck has extended to the track championship as well, a championship Milliken feels he could have and should have won the last two seasons.
This season, he feels that, with a little bit of good luck for a change, he will be able to win the Myrtle Beach Speedway track championship.
“I feel like, if we don’t have the luck we usually have, we’ll absolutely be a threat for the championship,” Milliken remarked. “We should have won it and lost in the tech room the last couple of years.”
Along with racing at Myrtle Beach Speedway on a regular basis, Milliken will make trips to Southern National Motorsports Park.
His main prize, however, is on the one race that has eluded him so many years, the Myrtle Beach 400. Last year, Milliken thought he once again had a good chance to win the mid-November classic but luck would have a different fate. Milliken said he would retire and focus on Shelby’s racing if he is finally victorious in that race.
The 2015 season opener at Myrtle Beach Speedway will be held on Saturday night, April 11th.
