Meet The Real Racers

Meet Howard and Anita Millican

Howard and Anita Millican were racers. His sprint car was always orange and always No. 71. He was also a talented chief mechanic and fabricator. When he met Anita, he taught her how to be a mechanic and fabricator too. She was a wonderful fabricator during a time when women were not allowed to go into the garage area or the pits. When the rule was changed to allow women in the garage areas, Anita became the first woman to be licensed as an IndyCar mechanic and the first to ever go over the wall as a part of a pit crew. She was the jack “man”. Howard and Anita were also the first to put an Indy car on a flowbench. Much like a wind tunnel that teams use today. They also invented the first shock dyno. Howard and Anita’s work with shocks changed the way everyone in racing uses shocks. After they retired from crew work, Howard and Anita went on to run a very successful performance shock business in Indianapolis. While Howard has left us, Anita is happily retired in Costa Rica, still rescuing animals!

The Story of the Real Trouble

On the way to a sprint race, Howard and Anita rescued a baby skunk on the side of the road next to its dead mom. They bought a baby doll bottle and started feeding the kit at the racetrack. Howard named the little fellow Trouble. Since Howard and Anita were racing every weekend, Trouble went with them to races. As he grew up, he dug in the toolboxes, made nests in awkward places, and generally lived up to his name. His story is the inspiration for this book, The Trouble with Howard.