Biomet Names Hillenburg As Driver

Thirty-six-year-old Andy Hillenburg has raced professionally for 19 years. So his reason for being nearly two hours late to the Warsaw Airport Saturday evening, where he would be introduced as Biomet's driver, caused a few chuckles.

He ran out of gas.

"I travel a lot, probably 120 days a year," he said. "I don't get to take my family with me, and I'm missing my kids growing up. We purchased a motor home this week. This was our first trip, and we ran out of fuel about an hour from here.

"The gauge said I had 3/8 of a tank. I mean, I had a good excuse. The gauge said I had gas."

Hillenburg and his wife, Michelle, have three children: Ashley, 6; Brittany, 3; and Casey, 2.

Biomet's racing team is ML Motorsports, founded in the fall of 1998. ML Motorsports is owned by Mary Louise Miller, wife of Biomet president/CEO Dane Miller.

Hillenburg will run his first race for Winona Lake's ML Motorsports next Sunday, in the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) race at the Salem Speedway in Salem, Ind.

ML Motorsports and Hillenburg plan to compete in as many ARCA races as possible, and they hope to qualify for a couple of Winston Cup races.

The race at Salem will be the third this season on the ARCA circuit. Eighteen remain.

Once he arrived at the airport, Hillenburg, who met Dane Miller for the first time, test-drove the black Ford ARCA car he will race next week.

Miller had clearance for Hillenburg, whose car screamed up and down the airport strip.

"I would say we reached 150, 160 (mph)," Hillenburg said. "I had to keep her as safe as I could. I was really surprised. The car had good acceleration. I had to ask (crew chief) Scott (Eldridge) what gear we were in when I came in."

Hillenburg, who was born in Indianapolis, has competed in four Winston Cup races, eight ARCA races, a few Busch races and the truck series. His highlight came in 1995, when he was the ARCA champion.

This is not Hillenburg's first trip to Warsaw. He won the July 4, 1986, sprint car race at the Warsaw Speedway.

"I ran the old dirt track here in Warsaw one time and got to retire undefeated," he joked.

He has not raced for points the last four years but has stayed busy as a test driver for the IROC series.

His favorite track? Daytona International Speedway, where he won the ARCA race twice.

"I just want to be successful in what we're running at the moment," Hillenburg said. "I eventually would like to do a few good seasons in Winston Cup. Whether it's this year, next year or three years from now, I don't have a timetable. I'm happy doing what I'm doing, and I'm excited about working with Dane and his team."

Hillenburg and Miller began chatting right before the Feb. 7 Daytona 500. While they had never met in person before Saturday, they have talked often on the phone for the last six weeks.

"We were fortunate enough to get going here on the third race," Hillenburg said. "We'll take off, hit the ground running. Maybe in a couple months, we'll have two or three wins under our belt."

And no, he doesn't think running out of gas on the tracks will be a problem.

"I guess I need my crew chief Scott here to figure my mileage for me from now on," Hillenburg cracked.

The team manager for ML Motorsports is Ed Mullen, Miller's son-in-law. For Miller, racing is a sport that he has always enjoyed.

"I'm just in the shadows, along for the ride to have a good time," he said.

Next week's ARCA race at Salem Speedway will be televised at 2 p.m. on SpeedVision. Miller knows an easy way people from this area can identify Hillenburg's car, No. 67.

"It will be in the front all day," Miller cracked.