Inaugural SprintX Champions Mills Rules Out PWC Return

Photo: PWC

Mills Racing will not defend its Pirelli World Challenge SprintX championship, with the family-run team having been unable to put together a program in the expanded series for this year.

The Houston-based squad, featuring BMW of North America factory driver Kuno Wittmer, claimed three wins in six races in 2016 with its BMW Z4 GT3, en route to team owner/driver Michael Mills claiming the Sportsman Drivers’ Championship, along with the teams’ title.

While Mills had evaluated a return with a new BMW M6 GT3, it’s understood funding issues have prevented it from materializing.

“We are disappointed not to return to the series after winning the inaugural championship last season,” Mills said. “Maybe you will see me in a car at COTA, our home track, but unfortunately we were not able to put together a program to return to SprintX this year.”

Mills credits his tight-knit team, as well as the support of BMW of North America, for the success achieved last year.

“I want to thank my family and my team for the love and support they provided during the season,” he said. “We could not have accomplished what we did without them.

“I am grateful for the way BMW treated a team of our size and for PWC to put the SprintX series together.

“SprintX is a great format and has a very bright future in North America. I wish we were on the grid, but 2017 looks to be an exciting season nevertheless.”

With Mills not returning, it leaves BMW not represented in the GT class of SprintX, nor the PWC Sprint championship, which kicked off last month at St. Pete.

A capacity field of 35 cars are set for the first round of SprintX next weekend at Virginia International Raceway.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John