McMillin Racing Dominates 2020 Desert Racing Season
Photos and Video: High Rev Photo, Getsome Photo Daniel Schenkelberg and Caleb Norman
Desert Racing definitely took a weird turn this season and it’s pretty safe to say a monkey wrench was thrown into the operation just as it was getting going but not even the global hurdles of 2020 were able to stop Dan and Luke McMillin from absolutely dominating in every Trophy Truck racing series throughout the year. Dan and Luke come from a long line of storied off-road racing history with their father Mark McMillin a Baja Champion in his own right and the patriarch of the McMillin family, Macey L. “Corky” McMillin who was an absolute legend in Baja.
This is the first year the McMillin brothers have been on the 4WP Official roster, but they’ve already dominated the world of Trophy Truck racing racking up an impressive number of wins and podiums in every major Trophy Truck race this season.
The icing on the cake is definitely much sweeter since Dan clenched the prestigious Baja 500 title in his all new Mason Motorsports AWD #17 Trophy Truck while Luke blazed through all 898.4 miles of the longest and toughest Baja 1000 loop race in history as the overall winner coming away with the SCORE International Trophy Truck Championship.
To put it in perspective, the Baja 500 isn’t just about being fast where it’s smooth but being the fastest where it isn’t and keeping it together all the way to the finish. Loop races in Baja mean you’re hitting some of the nastiest terrain imaginable that tests both man and machine to their limits and for the Baja 1000, this was turned up to 11.
Both McMillin Trophy Trucks were in contention from the drop of the green flag with the #23 leading the field all the way to Race Mile 580 where Luke ended up catching Dan through his dust. Dan moved over and let him go and gave him a few words over the radio before parting ways, “Go get em’ bud, go win this thing.”
And win it is exactly what Luke did. This season, Luke took the checkered flag at the famed Baja 1000 and earlier this year, took the top spot at the Mint 400 and the Silver State 300 while Dan added the Baja 500 win to the McMillin sweep of the Trophy Truck class. In addition, Luke took 2nd Place at the Toyo Tires T1 Desert Invitational at King of The Hammers, 3rd at the Best In The Desert Vegas To Reno race and a 3rd place podium at the Baja 500 which put him ahead of the field earning him his first SCORE International Trophy Truck Championship title.
We asked Dan if he could sum up their 2020 race season and he was very quick to respond…
“We won everything this year.”
-Dan McMillin
-Wayne Gretzky
-Michael Scott
McMillin Racing was well within the Top 5 at every major Trophy Truck race this year and the momentum they’ve built up all year will help carry them into the 2021 racing season and we’re sure you can bet on them continuing to dominate in their hunt for the top title in Trophy Truck racing.
“It’s really been an unbelievable season for our entire team. Everything seemed to come together from the beginning of the year with bringing in new sponsors and then the Biggest hurdle of bringing in the results we all wanted. As a two-truck team it’s really cool they have one truck win the Baja 500 and the other win the Baja 1000 as well as the series championship. We’ve also had seven consecutive Podium Finishes in the 83 truck,” said, Luke McMillin, driver of the #83 Trophy Truck.
“I think the last year and a half as a whole has really shown our team has hit our stride together. It’s been really cool to share these wins with new and bigger sponsorships to really tie the entire season together as a major success for our program. For me personally, of course the highlight of the year was winning the Baja 1000 overall which has been a dream of mine my entire life and the reason we race.”
While 2020 has definitely been quite a rollercoaster, we know the dynamic duo of Dan and Luke and the entire McMillin Racing program is just getting warmed up and we’re already looking forward to seeing them take the green flag and drop the hammer once again in the desert.
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