ARCA Menards Series driver Willie Mullins shatters stereotypes. Many think that ARCA, as well as TikTok, consists of only teenagers and twentysomethings. However, Mullins, at age 41, embraces both the national stock car series and the social media platform. By doing so, he’s created a legion of fans that adore the likeable driver.
“I’m perceived as the ‘old guy’ in ARCA,” Mullins, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, said. “There was a comment by one of the drivers, who has since moved on, about the ‘old geezers’ in ARCA. We feel we’re a part of that group. It stings a little bit, but we come out he to show them that we can still perform.”
Historically, Mullins runs a limited schedule in ARCA, typically three to four starts. Despite that short schedule, he manages to earn a top 10 just about every year. His operation is primarily self-funded and Mullins works on his own cars.
“I own it all,” said Mullins, who earns a living with a heavy truck repair business that works mostly on garbage trucks. “We have five [race] cars, four motors — we have good equipment. As a car owner, I do race to make sure we don’t spend a ton of money and hurt a car, but I still race to win.”
TikTok offers its users a glimpse of Mullins’ racing lifestyle. (Find Mullins’ TikTok account here.)
“I love TikTok — I’m a one-liner kind of guy,” Mullins said. “Everybody gets to see the TV and show stuff [about ARCA]. But, a lot of our fans love to see in-the-shop experience, inside the trailer — the stuff they can’t see. TikTok gives us a great platform to show the fans what it is behind the scenes to get the car on the track.”
As Mullins hauled his cars to Daytona International Speedway for testing in January, a truck driver contacted Mullins through the CB radio.
“Some guy said ‘Big Willie’ across the radio,” said Mullins. “I thought it was because of the back door [of the trailer and he said,] ‘No, it’s because I follow you on TikTok.’ It’s pretty cool to link with him on that.”
The TikTok connection extends beyond the road. For the first time, Mullins Racing fielded a second car in an ARCA event this past weekend at Daytona. The driver of that ride, Brayton Laster, followed Mullins on TikTok. (For more on Laster, read “Brayton Laster: His Wonderfully Whimsical World”.) Laster finished 13th and Mullins 14th in the race last Saturday.
“I follow [Mullins] on TikTok, and I saw they were looking for drivers for the ARCA [testing at Daytona],” Laster, 19, of Greenwood, Indiana, said. “I thought, ‘Why not?’ So, I sent them an email and before we knew it we were at the test. We killed the test, slayed it, especially for my first time in a professional stock car on asphalt. Now, we’re here at Daytona [for the race].”
Laster followed Mullins because racers like himself can relate to Mullins.
“I liked how [the members of the Mullins team] were real,” said Laster. “You could get a first-person look at their shop and how they operated. It reminded me of how we operated our racing operation. They’re busting their own butts, turning their own wrenches — they’re real people.”
After all, Willie Mullins is the best at being Willie Mullins — and grassroots racers love that.
“I am targeting my audience,” Mullins said, when asked if he’s specifically chasing a younger demographic. “The audience that’s the guy who’s running a dirt car on a Saturday night somewhere. I even had a guy who hit me up from Australia who’s a racer. We’ve connected with so many different racers from all over. I’m still that grassroots guy who’s trying to have fun and race at a top level and [TikTok] shows what we have to do to be here.”
The Outside Groove Executive Editor has covered motorsports since 2000. His many awards include the 2019 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Jim Hunter Writer of the Year and the 2013 Russ Catlin Award for Excellence in Motorsports Journalism.
