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SALT LAKE CITY — Miller Racing, based in Salt Lake City, had a disappointing outing this past weekend at New York's historic Watkins Glen International in Round 7 of the 10-race Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series.
The No. 158 Miller Racing Ford Mustang Boss 302R, sponsored by the Larry H. Miller Dealerships, the Ford Racing High Performance Driving School and Miller Motorsports Park and prepared and crewed by Dempsey Racing, was co-driven by Jason von Kluge, standing in for absent team principal Roger Miller, and regular co-driver Ian James. The team struggled with chassis set-up throughout practice, and von Kluge qualified the car 19th overall among 29 entries in the Grand Sports class in a total field of 62 cars.
The Dempsey Racing crew continued to fine-tune the chassis, arriving at a good compromise that allowed the car to run three seconds a lap faster in final practice than it had in qualifying. Von Kluge drove the opening stint, settling into a nice rhythm and holding his own mid-pack. After an excellent first pit stop, he kept charging forward and eventually landed just outside the top 10.
However, as is often the case in the ultra-competitive Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series, there was a lot of jostling and pushing among competitors, and von Kluge pitted with what he descried as "a strange feeling." James took over the driving duties and quickly confirmed that the on-track, car-to-car contact had resulted in a broken shock absorber.
As a result, the car had to be retired due to safety considerations and the Miller Racing squad was relegated to a 48th-place finish, 24th in class.
"We were super disappointed with the result," said James. "We set the car up for greasy conditions, and the weather and track conditions played into our hands. We had an awesome car for the race, and Jason did a great job filling in for Roger, but it just wasn't our day. The Dempsey Racing crew was brilliant and worked relentlessly throughout practice to get the car right. It's just a shame we couldn't get the result our sponsors and supporters deserve."
"After all the work the Dempsey Racing crew put into the car, it was very disappointing to have a shock break and take us out of the race," said von Kluge. "It was great to work with Ian and the whole Miller Racing team. We had a good car for the race; we should have gotten a top-10 finish, because it was there to be had. I appreciate the opportunity to fill in for Roger, and I look forward to working with the team again in the future."
The next event for the Miller Racing squad will be very special indeed, as the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series heads for the Midwest to race for the first time at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 27.
The race from Watkins Glen will be broadcast on a tape- delayed basis at 11:00 a.m. MDT on Saturday, July 14, on SPEED. Live timing and scoring during all on-track sessions is available at www.Grand-Am.com.
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.
(Photo caption: The No. 158 Miller Racing Ford Mustang Boss 302R, sponsored by the Larry H. Miller Dealerships, the Ford Racing High Performance Driving School and Miller Motorsports Park and prepared and crewed by Dempsey Racing, was co-driven by Jason von Kluge, standing in for absent team principal Roger Miller, and regular co-driver Ian James in the Grand-Am Continental Tires Sports Car Challenge race at New York's Watkins Glen International. Contact with another car during the race resulted in a broken shock absorber and forced the team to end its race early. Photo courtesy Miller Racing / Margie Gerard)
