At just 16 years old, the young couple began their racing street cars at Cecil County Dragway and eventually built a full chassis race car, taking turns behind the wheel in Pro and Super Pro. Vonnie soon took over the driving duties full-time and transitioned to NHRA Super Gas racing with her iconic pink 1968 Camaro, \u201cShow-N-Tell.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI started racing the same time I started my hair salon in 1979 so they both got the same name,\u201d Mills says. \u201cThey go hand in hand, because I\u2019ve worked every minute of every day my whole life to be able to go racing. Every car we\u2019ve had has been called \u2018Show-N-Tell\u2019 and they\u2019ve always treated us well, so we\u2019ve never changed the name.\u201d<\/p>\n In 1987, Mills etched her name into the history books as the first woman to win in Super Gas at the NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida. She returned in 1990 to win the event again, proving herself as a fierce female competitor during a time when the sport was largely dominated by men. For years, Mills competed at NHRA national and divisional events in Super Gas and Super Comp. Then, in 2002, a new opportunity arose with the introduction of the Top Sportsman category.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the Top Sportsman class came out, it was my dream to run it,\u201d Mills says. \u201cWe were able to get a faster motor and put it in the Super Gas car at the time. We did that for about a year, then sold it and bought a true Top Sportsman car.\u201d<\/p>\n From there, Mills\u2019 dream turned into a reality with a string of high-profile wins, including championships at Atco Raceway in 2012 and 2015 and a clean sweep of the 4.50 Bad Boys series at Capitol Raceway in 2016. She finished 8th in the world in NHRA Top Sportsman in 2018 and earned a memorable victory at the inaugural Drag Illustrated World Doorslammer Nationals in Orlando in 2020. With a perfect light and a dead-on dial run, Mills laid down a six-thousandths package in the final round of eliminations, once again confirming her natural talent. Throughout the years, Mills also collected numerous wins in IHRA Top Sportsman behind the wheel of her beautiful Buck Racing Engines-powered Chevy Cobalt, also named Show-N-Tell.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI am extremely competitive,\u201d she says. \u201cI just love racing and going fast, period. But I have my husband to thank for the many years of keeping these race cars running for me.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2022, Mills and her team debuted the latest iteration of Show-N-Tell, a 2013 Jerry Bickel Camaro powered by a 762-cubic-inch engine from Sonny\u2019s Racing Engines. Known for her standout race cars, Mills considers this version, designed and painted by Ryan Korek and his father of Korek Designs, the prettiest she\u2019s ever had. The car quickly drew attention, earning Best Appearing Car at both the PDRA Northern Nationals and the Pep Boys Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway. There, she also made history as the first woman to win in the NHRA Top Sportsman category.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat win was the highlight of my career because my whole family was with me. All my kids, their spouses, and my grandkids were there,\u201d Mill says. \u201cHaving them come down to the other end to meet you was just special.\u201d<\/p>\n While racing is a major part of Mills\u2019 life, her family remains at the heart of everything she does. Mills\u2019 daughter, Tiffany, has long served as her mother\u2019s crew chief and steps in to run the salon while her mother is away racing. She and her husband, Cole, have helped Mills achieve many of her wins over the years. Vonnie and Eddie\u2019s son, Clint, competes in truck pulls, and his children closely follow their grandmother\u2019s racing career. After every race weekend, they eagerly ask, \u201cDid Mimi win?\u201d Mills admits the sweet question never fails to warm her heart, but also adds a little extra pressure.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2023, the Show-N-Tell team switched to an EFI-equipped, 903-cubic-inch engine from Sonny\u2019s Racing Engines, which came with its share of challenges. After working through the learning curve, the team won the Elite Top Sportsman title at the PDRA World Finals with an impressive four-thousandths package in the final round against seasoned competitor Bruce Thrift.\u00a0<\/p>\n Along with her family, Mills credits Steve Boone and Bryan Riley for working tirelessly on her race car throughout the years and is grateful for their support. As the team continues to gain traction with the new setup, they hope to qualify for every PDRA Elite Top Sportsman race this season. In addition to winning races, and hopefully a championship, Mills has also set an individual goal for herself.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI want to win the U.S. Nationals in Indy because that race is the granddaddy of them all. I have two runner-ups there, so I have business to finish,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n With over four decades of experience and a passion that hasn\u2019t wavered, Mills and her team will continue to compete across multiple series throughout the year. Whether she\u2019s behind the wheel of her race car or behind the styling chair at her salon, Mills brings the same focus and drive to everything she does.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I first started racing, it was tough being the only girl out there. But I think I\u2019ve raced with the guys so long that it doesn\u2019t feel any different now,\u201d Mills says. \u201cThe same goes for my work at my salon. At the end of the day, you\u2019re just trying to do the best that you can in everything that you do.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite being one of the few women in the sport when she first started racing, Mills earned respect and built a reputation by letting her performance do the talking. True to the name of her race cars and beauty salon, Show-N-Tell, she has the trophies to show for her success and even more stories to tell as a trailblazer in the sport of drag racing.<\/p>\n The post WOMEN OF POWER 2025: Vonnie Mills Is A Top Sportsman Trailblazer<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Since the 1970s, Vonnie Mills, from Kennedyville, Maryland, has carved a path of her own in the sport of drag racing. What began as a teenage hobby alongside her then-boyfriend, now husband, Eddie Mills, has turned into a historic career spanning over four decades.\u00a0 Editor\u2019s Note: This story originally appeared in DI #195, the Women […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102152\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dragillustrated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Vonnie-Mills.jpg\")
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