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Description
Ak Miller was a pioneer drag racer who had a career as a driver and car builder in many facets of motor racing for six decades. Born Akton Moeller, in Denmark, Miller migrated to Whittier with his parents as a child. Miller began his racing career on Southern California's dry lakes in the 1930s as a charter member of the Roadrunners, one of a group of car clubs that created the Southern California Timing Assn. and the National Hot Rod Assn. He served twice as president of the SCTA and was a charter member of the NHRA, serving as vice president with Wally Parks as the founding president. As a teenager, he worked in the Nixon family store and in later years enjoyed recalling that young Richard M. Nixon often asked him to bring him a candy bar and to "help yourself as well." Years later, when Miller was at the White House with a group of racing personalities, he was being kidded by friends about the legitimacy of his story when President Nixon walked into the room, grasped Miller's hand and said, "Ak, did you bring me a candy bar?" (from Los Angeles Times obit, December 31, 2005)Additional Descriptive Notes: Ak Miller delivered three different lectures on racing. The contents of each lecture vary.
Whittier Museum California Revealed is supported by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.
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