RANDY MILLER-LIVING HIS DREAM BEHIND THE WHEEL OF A MODIFIED

Most competitors at Canandaigua Speedway only dream of piloting the awesome open wheel land rockets that most know as the mighty DIRT Modified. The financial implications have made it difficult in this day and age for most to make that final step to the headlining class on the DIRT circuit unless a sponsors steps up to make it more feasible. These drivers then resign themselves to "settling" in the support divisions to quench their need for speed that they have acquired. Forty-four year old Marion driver Randy Miller may have fit this exact scenario had he not decided he would in fact get behind the wheel of a big block Modified and live out the dream he had pursued since childhood.

Miller, a supervisor at MTR by trade, is a second-generation driver who grew up watching his legendary father Mike Miller race against the best in the business in the 50's & 60's on both asphalt and the dirt. Mike Miller competed in both the late models & the Modifieds of the time and developed into one of the best in the business.

"I remember as a kid watching the battles the drivers had on the dirt ovals and I always said to myself that I'd love to be able to "dance" a car around the way these masters do, never touching or crashing. It was such a beautiful thing…kind of like synchronized racing. I do somewhat remember my dad competing, but I really believe watching my brother Rick compete had more of an impact on me. After seeing how much Rick (now a Sportsman driver at Canandaigua) enjoyed competing on an oval I knew that I wanted to try it," Randy explained.

Randy did take the leap and climbed behind the wheel of a Pro Stock in 1997. After competing for several seasons in the full fendered division, Randy began to shine as a star and in 1999 after earning his one and only career victory he was involved in a tight 3 way points battle for the overall track championship with Jon Miller (not related) and eventual champion Les Whyte. Whyte was given the championship after meeting his untimely death with 2 weeks remaining in the season after Randy unselfishly requested the points be frozen in Les' memory relinquishing what may have been a sure points championship for the 3rd year Pro Stock driver. The following season (2000) Randy made the move he had always dreamed of when he climbed behind the wheel of a Modified and began his open wheel career at "The Land of Legends". The car, a 1998 Troyer was a former car that Vic Coffey had campaigned out of the Sweeteners Plus stables before Coffey's switch to TEOs. In his rookie season, Randy managed a season best finish of 8th, averaging a weekly finish of 14th and wrapping the season up 16th in the final point's tally.

"I do enjoy being behind the wheel of a Modified as opposed to a Pro Stock. It's a dream come true for me. It really is what I have wanted to do since I was a young child," Miller said.

For Miller's sophomore season, he once again campaigns the Troyer he competed with last season with a potent Sonny Barron powerplant. Miller's sponsor on board of his #66 for the 2001 season as they have been since the start is Mr. Kinley's Restaurant in Ontario. Miller is off to a slow start this season with a 12th place his best finish, his average finish thus far is a 17th, and he now sits tied for 18th in the point standings.

"We are just a small racing operation enjoying this as a hobby. There isn't a lot of money we'll make out of this, but we'll still enjoy being here at Canandaigua each Saturday. The competition is so tough here at "The Land of Legends" that I am going to have a tough time trying to reach my goal for 2001 which is to earn one top 5 finish. We'll battle to accomplish it though. Even if we don't make that, we'll keep pushing to finish every feature event," Miller continued.

"As for long term goals, I'd like to compete for many more seasons, but when I do hang up my helmet for the last time, I'd really enjoy getting into part of track operations or even in the announcing side of the business. I know I could add some color to the sport even if I'm not behind the wheel," Miller concluded.