THE TYRELL FAMILY
When Mini Tyrell was born, he didn’t only inherent his father’s name (Timmy), but also his love for all things cars and racing. Timmy will tell you that he always wanted to race but never got around to it so he now lives vicariously through his son. Since the age of 4, Mini has been driving and racing some kind of vehicle. From 4 to 7, he raced go-karts, at 8 he moved up to Arena cars, and at age 9 he strapped into his first full sized race car at the Shenandoah speedway. That same year he became the youngest person ever to race a Late Model Stock Car and the next year at 10 years old he became the youngest person in the world to win a Late Model Stock Car race. Along with his countless other titles and trophies Mini has also used his car to raise money for childhood cancer charities having raised over $470,000 to date.
This extremely competitive family want nothing more than for Mini to continue to win and eventually make it into the world of NASCAR, and they are doing whatever it takes to make that happen. The Tyrells own 2 automotive repair businesses and all of them, including Mini, work there. When they’re not at home together, or at work together, they are either at the racetrack together, or traveling to or from the track together in their camper. This is the way it’s been for the last decade, but now Mini has a girlfriend and dad isn’t too happy about it. Not only does dad feel like he’s losing his best friend, but he is also concerned that having a girlfriend will make Mini take his eyes of the prize. When he should be working on the car or practicing in the simulator, Mini is now hanging out with the girlfriend… There are times that mom and dad are barely scraping by financially to make this dream come true, so dad thinks he needs to be focused on his career and push the girlfriend stuff further down the road.
With graduation looming in the next year and a half, it is time for Mini to go out there and really make sure he is making the biggest and best name for himself. His (and his dad’s) current goals are the win the Virginia Triple Crown (Langley, South Boston & Martinsville Speedway) and to join (and win) the CARS Tour Championship. That’s no easy task though. The CARS Tour is the most competitive race series in the United States. The 30 car field is separated in time by 10ths of a second. It is extremely stiff competition but Mini and Timmy think it is his to lose. And with 23 races already booked in 2022 (and more to come) this family is ready to show the world that Mini is not just here to compete, but he is here to win!