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SALT LAKE CITY - As has been widely reported, Miller Racing team principal Roger Miller unexpectedly and tragically passed away on August 18 of unknown causes. What has not been reported, however, is what happened with Miller Racing in the days leading up to his death.
Miller Racing, based in Salt Lake City, had been racing at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, August 17, in Round 8 of the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Series.
The No. 158 Miller Racing Ford Mustang Boss 302R, co-driven by Miller and Ian James, is sponsored by Total Care Auto in addition to Miller Motorsports Park and the Ford Racing School. The car is prepared and crewed by Dempsey Racing.
Kansas Speedway was a new venue for the series, and neither Miller nor James had any experience on the 2.37-mile speedway road course, or "roval," that incorporated most of the 1.5-mile speedway oval with a infield road-course section.
Miller arrived at the track late on Thursday to take part in the promoter test day, a non-official practice session that would allow him desperately needed experience on the new and challenging circuit. Unfortunately, things didn't start out positively. Heavy rain was falling, and Miller spun and crashed the team's backup car.
The Dempsey Racing crew rolled out the primary No. 158 Total Care Automotive Ford Mustang Boss 302R for Friday's practice and qualifying sessions, and the day progressed without incident. After timing in at 17th-fastest in the first practice and 13th in the second, Miller qualified in 13th position for Saturday's 2.5-hour race.
However, Miller had more than the Continental Tires Sports Car Challenge race on his mind. He had been invited to participate in the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo series, a spec series for identically prepared Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4s. These are lightweight, race-prepared examples of the Lamborghini Gallardo, with a 5.2-liter, 570-hp V10 engine and permanent four-wheel drive.
Miller was entered in the No. 99 Change Racing entry fielded by Lamborghini Carolinas, with additional sponsorship from Total Care Auto. Among the competitors in the field were former SCCA World Challenge champion Lawson Aschenbach and former Olympic Decathlon champion Bruce Jenner, who drove IMSA GT-class Mustangs for Roush Racing in the late 1980s. Despite his lack of experience in the car, Miller qualified sixth overall and posted the fastest time for an amateur driver. In Friday evening's race, the first of two scheduled for the weekend in the Lamborghini series, Miller hit a tire barrier and ended his race early. However, the damage was minimal enough to allow the car to be repaired overnight for Saturday's second race.
The second Lamborghini race on Saturday was to be Miller's first of two races on the day, and it went very well. Miller drove a smart and fast race, finishing seventh overall and second among amateur drivers, giving him his first-ever podium finish in a professional race.
Later that afternoon, Miller switched driving suits and cars for the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race. He drove the first stint in the race as usual, dropping back to 16th position in the opening laps and moving up to 15th on lap 13 in the 89-lap event. However, he made contact with a Porsche and was judged by race officials to be at fault. He was ordered to stop in the pit lane for a 60-second penalty, putting the team almost two laps behind the leaders in 23rd position.
Following the penalty, Miller methodically worked his way back up the order, posting lap times that were competitive with the race's front-runners, and made his way back to 14th before pitting for the driver change over to James. James rejoined the race in 29th place on Lap 39 and began his charge through the field. The team tried an alternate strategy to try to regain track position but the gamble failed to pay off, as James was forced to make the final pit stop under green-flag conditions, which dropped the team more than two laps down. James once again charged through the field in the closing laps, finally bringing the car home in 11th position.
Although the result wasn't as good as had been hoped, both Miller and James maintained their tie for ninth in the championship standings and the team once again came together to overcome adversity and make the best out of a bad situation.
Following the news of Miller's death and the subsequent funeral services in Salt Lake City on August 24, the decision was made by the Miller family that Miller Racing will finish out the 2013 season in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge in Roger Miller's honor. Details regarding a replacement driver will be announced in the near future.
"The Kansas weekend will obviously be ingrained in my memory forever," said James. "Roger really shined at Kansas, although light contact with a competitor in the Continental race sent the Total Care Auto Boss 302R to the Penalty Box. Roger put in a stellar display to fight back and lapped at the leaders' pace for the remainder of his stint. I tried some alternative strategy to get our lap back, as our car was quick enough to run at the front. Unfortunately, the caution flags flew at the wrong times for us and we ended up in 11th place.
"Watching Roger finish on the podium in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo race was a true indication of how he had developed into an all-‘round racer, and through his hard work and dedication had become one of the best amateur racers in the country.
"After the sad event of Roger's passing, I am honored that Roger's wife, Cheri, and his family have decided that Miller Racing will finish out the season for him. A true racer, he would have had it no other way. His ethos of always doing the best we can, and his burning desire for success, will be with us on the journey."
"Roger would have insisted that we finish what we started with Miller Racing this year," said Cheri Miller. "On his behalf, I would like to thank the dedicated and hard-working Dempsey Racing crew, along with team principals Patrick Dempsey and Joe Foster, for their ongoing support and their enthusiasm to race all the way to the end of the season. I would also like to thank Total Care Auto, Miller Motorsports Park and the Ford Racing School for their unwavering support of the team. Ian James has been awesome as Roger's co-driver, and continuously helped him improve his skills behind the wheel and his racecraft during their time together. I know that he and the team will race their hearts out in the last two races of the season, and that they will make Roger proud.
"Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone in the racing community who has offered their love, support and encouragement. Roger loved racing, and he loved racing people. It was a passion he discovered perhaps later in life than most, but he embraced it completely and gave it his all. His racing friends were like a second family, and those friendships made his racing experiences that much more meaningful and precious. We look forward to seeing everybody at the track, and watching Roger's No. 158 Total Care Auto Boss 302R mixing it up at the front of the field in the final two races of the season."
The penultimate race in the 2013 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge will be the Continental Tire Sports Car Festival at California's Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca over the weekend of September 7-8. Live timing and scoring during all on-track sessions will be available at www.Grand-Am.com. Grand-Am also offers mobile apps for both iPhone and Android platforms, available at Google Play and the App Store, respectively, which will provide live timing and scoring among other features.
For more information on Miller Racing, visit the team's website at www.MillerRacing.com. Fans are invited to follow the team at Facebook: www.facebook.com/roger.miller158 or on Twitter: @millerracingUT.
