Recently, Team Millen was able to snag a prestigious second place win at the Lake Superior Performance Rally, which is the eighth and final round of the 2016 Rally America National Championship Series. The RAV4, which had its original stock engine and transmission, was pitted against serious competitors that had sequential racing boxes, big turbochargers and extreme modifications. Taking this into consideration, the win was a huge victory for both Toyota and famed race car driver Ryan Millen. The feat afforded Millen top honors, winning the distinct Rally America Rookie of the Year accolade.
At the beginning of the eight-round race, drivers were faced with unforgivable dirt roads that were muddy, wet and windy, making it difficult to gain traction and speed. However, Millen and his fiancé, Christina Fate, forged ahead to place them only 15 seconds behind the leader at the start of the first night stage.
During stage 5, Millen was able to mimic the leaders time, only forfeiting a second on the highly-competitive stage. He stepped up his game even further during stage 6, however, things didn’t turn out as he would have liked them to. As the race got underway, Millen put the pedal to the metal and hit speeds of more than 80 miles per hour, which put him over a crest too fast, and he wasn’t able to adequately maneuver the sharp turn that lied ahead.
This caused Millen to veer off the track and hit a few trees. No one was injured, but the damage to the RAV4 was severe. It was then that Millen and Fate opted to retire, securing their second place victory in the 2WD Class for the Rally America national championship.
