Matt Mills | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Born | Matthew Robert Mills November 14, 1996 Lynchburg, Virginia, U.S. | ||||||
NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
1 race run over 1 year | |||||||
2021 position | 67th | ||||||
Best finish | 67th (2021) | ||||||
First race | 2021 Buschy McBusch Race 400 (Kansas) | ||||||
| |||||||
NASCAR Xfinity Series career | |||||||
123 races run over 7 years | |||||||
2023 position | 96th | ||||||
Best finish | 21st (2019) | ||||||
First race | 2017 DC Solar 200 (Phoenix) | ||||||
Last race | 2023 Kansas Lottery 300 (Kansas) | ||||||
| |||||||
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career | |||||||
46 races run over 6 years | |||||||
Truck no., team | No. 42 (Niece Motorsports) | ||||||
2024 position | 23rd | ||||||
Best finish | 23rd (2024) | ||||||
First race | 2016 UNOH 200 (Bristol) | ||||||
Last race | 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race (Phoenix) | ||||||
| |||||||
Statistics current as of November 8, 2024. |
Matthew Robert Mills (born November 14, 1996) [1] is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 42 Chevrolet Silverado for Niece Motorsports. He has also previously competed in the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Mills started racing at age twelve in go-karts. A year later, he moved up to Junior Champ Karts and spent three years racing those. Mills started racing Open Wheel Modifieds at Midvale Speedway in 2012, winning Rookie of the Year and moving up to Outlaw Super Late Models in 2013. He attended a rookie seminar for NASCAR at Daytona Beach, Florida the following year and received clearance to race in the ARCA Racing Series and K&N Pro Series, [1] but has yet to race in either of those series, instead running a limited schedule in the JEGS/CRA Pro Series in 2015 as well as continuing his late model career. [2]
On June 29, 2016, it was announced that Mills would join SS-Green Light Racing for "select races" in the 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. [3] He made his first start at Bristol Motor Speedway in August, [4] finishing 27th. [5] Mills ran four more races for SS-Green Light in 2016, scoring the best finish of 21st in the season's penultimate race at Phoenix International Raceway. [6]
In 2017, he joined Faith Motorsports for three races because the team's primary driver Donnie Levister was unapproved by NASCAR to run intermediate tracks. He ran seventeenth in two of them, career-best finishes, [7] before he joined Martins Motorsports to run in multiple races in the truck No. 42 with sponsorship from Thompson Electric Inc. starting in Iowa. [8] The truck never hit the track at Iowa and was never entered thereafter, however, the truck was included in the original edition of the 2017 video game NASCAR Heat 2 . [9] He drove the No. 44 for Martins the following week but fell out due to an accident. He then start and parked with Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing for a few races in the latter part of 2017. [10]
Mills drove the No. 20 truck for Young's Motorsports part-time in 2022 in addition to running the majority of the Xfinity Series season for B. J. McLeod Motorsports in their No. 5 car. He returned to the team in 2023 to drive their No. 20 truck again in Las Vegas in March.
On October 12, 2023, Niece Motorsports announced that Mills will drive the No. 42 full-time in 2024, with Carson Hocevar moving up to the Cup Series in the Spire Motorsports No. 77. [11] At 2024 Baptist Health 200, he was injured after Conner Jones intentionally sent him to the turn 3 wall. [12] Jones was held for two laps during the race, then suspended for the following race at Martinsville, for the contact. [13]
On September 24, 2024, Niece Motorsports announced that Mills would continue on the team for 2025. [14]
In March 2017, Mills was named the driver for B. J. McLeod Motorsports' No. 8 entry at Phoenix [15] [16] in what looked to be a one-race deal, replacing regular driver Jeff Green who had been signed to run the full season. Mills finished 30th in his debut. [17] He returned to the series over a month later at Richmond, again driving McLeod's No. 8. [18] His next start in the series came at Chicago in September with JD Motorsports, start and parking their fourth car, the No. 15. [19] In the season's final weekend, he failed to qualify with startup team NextGen Motorsports. [20]
On February 2, 2018, it was announced that Mills would drive the No. 15 car for all but one race in 2018, skipping the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway. [21] He had previously been in consideration for the team's No. 0 car, which ultimately was driven by Garrett Smithley. [22] He did not qualify for the Texas race in April because of inspection issues. The agreement wound up falling through, as Mills was replaced by Joe Nemechek for the Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. [23] Mills returned for a couple more races but parted ways with JDM after the June Michigan race. He made a start for DGR-Crosley in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Michigan in August, but wrecked, self-admittedly due to inexperience. [24]
Mills returned to B. J. McLeod Motorsports for some fall Xfinity races, eventually becoming the team's full-time driver of the No. 8 in 2019. [25] However, the number changed to 5 after the team agreed to give up their No. 8 for JR Motorsports in a number swap, and McLeod's team received the No. 5, the car number JRM dropped so they could get the No. 8. [26]
On April 26, 2021, B. J. McLeod Motorsports announced that they would be fielding a Cup Series car in the spring race at Kansas, the No. 55, and that Mills would be the driver. It was his debut in the series. Although BJMM uses Chevrolets or Toyotas in the Xfinity Series, the car in this race was a Ford from McLeod's Live Fast Motorsports team, which he fields in the Cup Series but is a separate entity from BJMM. [27]
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
NASCAR Cup Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | NCSC | Pts | Ref |
2021 | B. J. McLeod Motorsports | 55 | Ford | DAY | DRC | HOM | LVS | PHO | ATL | BRD | MAR | RCH | TAL | KAN 38 | DAR | DOV | COA | CLT | SON | NSH | POC | POC | ROA | ATL | NHA | GLN | IRC | MCH | DAY | DAR | RCH | BRI | LVS | TAL | ROV | TEX | KAN | MAR | PHO | 67th | 01 | [28] |
* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points
Angela Christine Ruch is an American professional stock car racing driver. She is the niece of Derrike Cope and the sister of Amber Cope. She last competed in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, driving the No. 00 Chevrolet Silverado/Toyota Tundra for Reaume Brothers Racing.
Thomas Joseph Martins is an American professional stock car racing driver and owner. He competes part-time in Asphalt Super Late Model competition, driving the No. 44 Chevrolet Camaro for Alpha Prime Racing.
Akinori Ogata is a Japanese professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 35 Toyota Camry / Chevrolet Camaro for Joey Gase Motorsports, and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 20 Chevrolet Silverado for Young's Motorsports. He has also competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East in the past.
Jordan L. Anderson is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 32 Chevrolet Camaro for his team, Jordan Anderson Racing.
Burton Darwin "B. J." McLeod is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He owns B. J. McLeod Motorsports, which fields entries in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and co-owns Live Fast Motorsports, a NASCAR Cup Series team which fields the No. 78 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 which McLeod drives part-time. He also competes part-time in the Cup Series, driving the No. 66 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for MBM Motorsports. McLeod has previously competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and the ARCA Menards Series.
B. J. McLeod Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team is owned by B. J. McLeod and his wife, Jessica. The team currently fields No. 78 part-time for B. J. McLeod.
AM Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series fielding the No. 15 Ford Mustang Dark Horse full-time for Harrison Burton. They also compete in the ARCA Menards Series fielding the No. 32 Ford Mustang full-time for Christian Rose. The team also had a technical alliance with Stewart–Haas Racing. The team used to compete the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series fielding the No. 22 Ford F-150 part-time for multiple drivers.
Garrett Kirk Smithley is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 4/6 Chevrolet Camaro for JD Motorsports, the No. 45 Chevrolet Camaro for Alpha Prime Racing, and the No. 53 Ford Mustang for Joey Gase Motorsports. He has also previously competed in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and ARCA Menards Series.
Todd Michael Peck is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 96 Toyota Tundra for Peck Motorsports. He has also raced in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the X-1R Pro Cup Series.
Joshua Michael Bilicki is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 66 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for MBM Motorsports and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the Nos. 91 and 92 Chevrolet Camaros for DGM Racing and the No. 19 Toyota GR Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing. He has also previously competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and sports car racing.
Alpha Prime Racing is an American stock car racing team that competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team was founded in 2009 by Craig Martins, and fields the No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro SS for TBA full-time, the No. 44 for Brennan Poole full-time, and the No. 45 part-time for multiple drivers. The team was inactive from 2018 to 2019 and changed to their current name starting with the 2022 season.
Josh L. Williams is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 11 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing. He also owns Josh Williams Motorsports, which fields cars for development drivers in the ARCA Menards Series, Late Model Stock Cars, Legend Cars and Bandoloero's.
DGM Racing is a Canadian professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team is owned by Mario Gosselin. The team is now located in Lake Wales, Florida, The team formerly fielded a Truck Series team and an ARCA team. Gosselin won two ARCA races with the team. The team currently fields two Chevrolet Camaros, the No. 91 full-time for TBA and the No. 92 full-time for multiple drivers. The team also fields the No. 36 Chevrolet Camaro part-time for multiple drivers.
Niece Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Owned by Al Niece, it currently fields the No. 41 Chevrolet Silverado full-time for Bayley Currey and Connor Mosack, the No. 42 Chevrolet Silverado full-time for Matt Mills, the No. 45 Chevrolet Silverado full-time for multiple drivers, and the No. 44 Chevrolet Silverado part-time for multiple drivers. Niece Motorsports formerly had a technical alliance with GMS Racing that started back in 2018.
Bayley Alexander Currey is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 41 and No. 44 Chevrolet Silverado for Niece Motorsports. He has also competed in the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series in the past.
Anthony Francis Alfredo is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro for Our Motorsports and part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 62 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Beard Motorsports.
Stefan Charles Parsons is an American professional stock car racing driver and spotter. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 75 Chevrolet Silverado for Henderson Motorsports and the No. 44 Silverado for Niece Motorsports and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 45 Chevrolet Camaro for Alpha Prime Racing. He is also the spotter for the No. 7 Spire Motorsports car in the NASCAR Cup Series driven by Justin Haley. He has also previously competed in the ARCA Menards Series and the CARS Tour.
William Mason Massey IV is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 02 Chevrolet Silverado for Young's Motorsports and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 14 Chevrolet Camaro/Ford Mustang for SS-Green Light Racing. He has also competed in the ARCA Menards Series East in the past. Massey has recorded over 200 feature wins, 11 championships, and 10 track records across multiple classes.
Carson Scott Hocevar is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports. He is a former member of the Drivers Edge Development driver development system.
The 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series was the 28th season of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, a stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. The season started with the NextEra Energy 250 on February 18 at Daytona International Speedway, and concluded with the Lucas Oil 150 on November 4 at Phoenix Raceway. This was the final season of the Truck Series with Camping World as the title sponsor, as CEO Marcus Lemonis announced the brand would not return for the 2023 season. On August 26, 2022, it was announced that Craftsman would return as the Truck Series title sponsor, although the tool company is now owned by Stanley Black & Decker instead of Sears, who owned Craftsman when they were the series title sponsor from 1995 to 2008. This makes Stanley Black & Decker the series' third title sponsor.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires |journal=
(help)