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Jeremy Miller Racing
GETTYSBURG, Penn. (July 2) - Jeremy Miller will chalk up the World of Outlaws Late Model Series 'Great Northern Tour' as a learning experience.
The 37-year-old driver from Gettysburg, Pa., certainly wasn't satisfied with scoring just one top-10 finish in six races with the WoO LMS in Canada, New York and Pennsylvania, but he's hopeful that spending nearly two weeks rubbing shoulders and running side-by-side with the country's best drivers will pay dividends.
"We weren't really running that good when we left on the trip, so we weren't expecting to set the world on fire," said Miller, whose high point of 2008 came on April 11 when he recorded his first career WoO LMS A-Main triumph at Virginia Motor Speedway. "Our results show that we're still struggling, but you hope that by running with those Outlaw guys you learn something that will help you down the road.
"It can take a long time for the information those guys have to get back to the regional racer like us, so racing with them definitely helps you step up your program. Taking a little bit of what you learn out there should hopefully get you running better."
Miller's best 'Great Northern Tour' outing came in the 'Quebec 50' on June 21 at Autodrome Drummond in Drummondville, Que. He raced forward from the 17th starting spot to finish eighth in his Buckler Motorsports No. 24, which carries sponsorship from Complete Flooring, USA Spares, Inc., Rocket Chassis, Bullock Race Engines, Miller Fabrication Inc., Torco Race Fuels, Genesis Racing Shocks and American Racer Tires.
The Northeast standout also had a strong run in the swing's opening-night event on June 17 at Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway. He timed second-fastest in qualifying and appeared headed to a seventh-place finish in the 40-lap A-Main until a worn-out tire blew on the final circuit, dropping him to 15th in the official rundown.
Miller failed to finish the remaining races, placing 20th on June 20 at Ohsweken (Ont.) Speedway; 21st on June 21 at Cornwall (Ont.) Motor Speedway; 24th on June 24 at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Speedway; and 23rd (after timing fifth-fastest) on June 25 at Big Diamond Raceway in Minersville, Pa. He used a WoO LMS points provisional to start the Canandaigua and Big Diamond features.
The 'Great Northern Tour' was scheduled to conclude on June 27-28 with the $40,000-to-win Firecracker 100 at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., but rain pushed the weekend's headline action to Tues., July 29. Friday night's qualifying program did beat the weather, however, and Miller had a strong performance, timing 17th-fastest and nipping Davey Johnson at the finish line of the fifth heat to claim the prelim's third and final transfer spot.
"I felt like we had a pretty good car at Lernerville," said Miller, who is scheduled to start 17th in the Firecracker 100. "But I'm not disappointed that the feature was rained out. I feel like if we can get our car going better over the next month, then when we go back (on July 29) I'll have a better shot."
Miller, his wife, his parents and two crewmen arranged vacation days from their jobs several months ago in order to chase the 'Great Northern Tour.' They're all glad they made the trip.
"I really enjoyed it," said Miller, who relished the opportunity to "think about nothing but racing" for two full weeks. "We raced at some real nice tracks. We were treated really well by the World of Outlaws officials. We had a great time traveling and hanging out with (WoO LMS star) Chub (Frank).
"Even though we didn't run as well as we would've liked, it was a pleasure to race with the Outlaw guys. The whole trip was a great experience and I'm definitely not against doing it again next year."
Miller will travel to Portsmouth (Ohio) Raceway Park this weekend for two nights of holiday action with the Mid-Atlantic Championship Series (MACS). He'll run a $5,000-to-win event on Friday night (July 4) and a $10,000-to-win show on Saturday night (July 5) at the riverside oval, where he's been victorious twice in his career.
For more information on Jeremy Miller, visit www.jeremymiller24.com.
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