351C racing history - Ak Miller

Ak Miller is a legend among racers and a personal hero. I ran across a couple of pictures of him and his Cleveland powered Mustang which was one of his Pikes Peak race cars. So I thought I'd share them with you guys.



Ak Miller standing at the top of Pikes Peak with the 1970 Mustang he drove to a win in the stock car class in 1971.




He drove this Mustang powered by a 500 bhp Ford 351 Cleveland to a time of 14:18.61.
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Ak was born Akton Moeller in Denmark, his family immigrated to Southern California when he was just a small child. He worked in various garages as young man, and followed his brothers, Lawrence and Zeke to the dry lakes in the 1930s, and began a love affair with racing that lasted his entire life.

Hes raced the dry lakes, Bonneville Salt Flats, Pikes Peak Hill Climb and road races in Italy and Mexico. He's a former President of the SCTA (Southern California Timing Association) and a founder and former Vice President of the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association), and he's a member of the Dry Lakes Hall of Fame. He was a terror at the Pikes Peak Hill Climbs, winning his class 9 times, with Ray Brock as his crew. He and Brock also competed in and won their class in the 1963 Baja 1000 Road Race. He was a contractor for Ford during the Total Performance Era of the 1960s, he was a member of a large team of incredibly talented people who helped put Ford in the winner's circle at races around the world.

Ak worked for Hannah Nixon, mother of president Richard M Nixon, in their store in Whittier, back in the 1930s. Ak remembers seeing Richard Nixon studying at the old secretary desk in the store, and asking Ak to bring him a candy bar and to "help yourself as well." Years later, when visiting the White House as a member of a racing contingent, Ak found himself teased and everyone doubted that he had ever known the President. Nixon strode in and grasped the hand of his old friend and said, "Ak, did you bring me a candy bar?"

Ak developed one of the earliest "hop up" parts for the Pantera, a turbo-charger kit that mounted behind the motor.

-G