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SALT LAKE CITY — Miller Racing, based in Salt Lake City, had what team principal Roger Miller describes as an "interesting" weekend racing with the SCCA Pirelli World Challenge Championship August 3-5 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.
The event started out normally, with Miller qualifying 18th on Friday afternoon in the No. 23 Ford Mustang Boss 302S, which is sponsored by the Larry H. Miller Dealerships, the Ford Racing High Performance Driving School, Miller Motorsports Park, Coca-Cola, Zions Bank and EnergySolutions and prepared and fielded by Rehagen Racing.
In Saturday's first of two scheduled races, Miller had a drama-free race, coming home 17th in the GTS class and 27th overall on the park-like, 2.258-mile, 13-turn Mid-Ohio circuit. It wasn't as high in the results as the team would have liked, or was accustomed to. In fact, all the teams running Boss 302 Mustangs were much less competitive than they had been in previous races, with the top Mustang finishing a lowly 10th in class and 20th overall.
The seven Boss 302 Mustang teams met with series officials following Saturday's race, asking to have recent restrictions on their car's performance changed. The series uses inlet restrictors to equalize performance among the various makes and models, and the Boss 302 Mustangs have had their inlet restrictors changed twice so far this season. Where Boss 302 Mustangs were winning races and regularly claiming podium positions earlier in the season, now they were struggling to break into the top 10.
The series officials denied the Boss 302 Mustang teams' request, leaving the teams frustrated. In order to protest that decision and draw attention to the situation, all seven teams chose not to participate in Sunday's race, pulling off the racetrack after the formation lap and parking on the pit lane.
"This is a very frustrating situation," said Miller. "Nobody wants to expend the money and energy to go to the racetrack and not race, but we felt it was imperative to take a stand to point out what we - the teams racing Boss 302 Mustangs - feel is an incorrect decision taken by series officials. We understand the concept of managing the competition to keep the playing field level for all competitors, but the current specifications mandated by the series have made our cars uncompetitive. We're not expecting Boss 302 Mustangs to win every race; we would just like to have our competiveness returned to the levels that were in effect when the season started.
"I hope that the series officials will review the situation again and adjust the inlet restrictors to allow our cars to mix it up nearer the front of the field, like we did earlier this year. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Rehagen Racing for bringing the best possible cars to the racetrack within the rules with which they have to work, and to our sponsors and fans for their continued support."
Both races at Mid-Ohio will be broadcast by NBC Sports Network in a 90-minute program scheduled for 1:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday, August 25.
Miller Racing's next scheduled outing with the SCCA Pirelli World Challenge Championship will be August 24 at California's Sonoma Raceway (formerly known as Infineon Raceway).
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: Roger Miller drove the No. 23 Ford Mustang Boss 302S, which is sponsored by the Larry H. Miller Dealerships, the Ford Racing High Performance Driving School, Miller Motorsports Park, Coca-Cola, Zions Bank and EnergySolutions and prepared and fielded by Rehagen Racing, to a 17th-in-class finish in the first of two races with the SCCA Pirelli World Challenge Championship on August 4 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. Photo courtesy Miller Racing / David Wilks)
