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Photo by Johns Racing Photos
Heat win on Saturday highlights Trophy Cup for Brett Miller
By Gary Thomas
Tulare, CA - November 19, 2007...Chico, California youngster Brett Miller completed his sophomore season of sprint car racing this past weekend during the 14th annual Trophy Cup at Tulare’s Thunderbowl Raceway. The prestigious two-night event ended with Brett getting upside down in the second corner in the B-main on Saturday, but the weekend as a whole has to be considered a success as it was one of Brett’s best this season at the lightning fast 1/3 mile clay oval.
The Trophy Cup has been going on since 1994 and this season was the third straight year it was held at the Thunderbowl Raceway, which is located on the Tulare County Fairgrounds in Tulare, Calif. The event benefits the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the organization was presented a check worth $35,000 on Saturday night by Dave Pusateri and the Trophy Cup staff.
The event saw a whopping field of 82 cars compete over the two-night’s and some of biggest names in sprint car racing were in the pit area. Brett hadn’t run a race since the Fall Nationals in early October and after getting some hot lap sessions in he qualified 33rd fastest in the field aboard the Care Free Pools, Platinum Powder Coating, Wolfe Electric No. 1x, missing the heat race inversion by just three spots.
The heat race on Friday night turned out to be an ultra stacked affair and it made it a tough task for Brett to transfer out. Starting in front of the 18 year-old were World of Outlaw drivers Joey Saldana & Jason Solwold, as well as top California drivers Tim & Brent Kaeding and fellow youngster Kyle Larson. The racing surface was hooked up and Brett stayed with the drivers in front of him and finished seventh in the heat, putting him in the B-main. Starting near the back in the last chance event, the "Catfish" ran a smooth and solid race to finish ninth. It put an end to the night, but it was good to roll the car back into the trailer in one piece and gave Brett some confidence at Thunderbowl Raceway, a track that has been rather tough to the 1x team this year. "I’m definitely happy with how the night went," team owner Bill Bell said on Saturday afternoon.
On Saturday night there is no qualifying held at the Trophy Cup as points from the previous evening are used to determine heat line-ups. Brett found himself on the outside of the front row in the night’s opening heat race. The start saw him fall into line second, but he quickly found a nice line in turns three and four up on the high side and he used it to make a brave move and sweep around leader Seth Bergman on the third lap to take the lead.
After that he quickly had to deal with a fast moving Tim Kaeding and after running nose to tail for a couple laps, "TK" slid Brett in turn three, but the "Catsfish" diamonded the exit of the corner to drive back underneath the Tom Rolfe Trucking Special to re-claim the lead. Just as the battle was heating up a caution appeared and it set up a three lap dash to the finish. It’s always intimidating to have a driver the caliber of "TK" on your bumper for a restart, but Brett was up to the challenge and drove away to pick up the heat race win aboard the Smartwebsales.com, Jandy Pools, Al’s Concrete No. 1x.
With points determining main event line-ups it put Brett into the B-main where he started from the eighth position. While running among the top 10 Brett attempted a high side pass in turn two, but the car running below him got loose and slid up into Brett causing the RPM Racing engines powered Maxim to get upside down. It put an end to the night, but the team was definitely happy with the performance at the 14th annual Trophy Cup. The Thunderbowl Raceway has been tough on Brett this season, but he always speaks highly of the track as it’s one his favorites and he now has some confidence heading into next season at the 1/3 mile clay oval.
With the 2007 racing season complete, Brett and Care Free Pools Racing will take part in the John Padjen Motorsports Banquet next Saturday at the Feather Falls Casino in Oroville. Brett will have a chance to get on the stage and be honored for his fourth place finish in the final 410 point standings at Silver Dollar Speedway. Following the JPM Banquet Brett will be part of the Golden State Challenge Series ceremony on January 5, which is also held at Feather Falls. The week following the GSC Banquet will see Brett compete for the first time at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Chili Bowl sees top drivers from all around motor sports compete and this past season saw 267 midgets in action at the event. This will be Brett's first time behind the wheel of a midget and prior to the Chili Bowl, he'll be doing some practice sessions with midget ace Ryan Kaplan at the Jimmy Sills school of Open Wheel Racing.
Care Free Pools Racing would like to thank all of our sponsors and everybody that supported us this year. We hope everyone has a great holiday season and hope the Winter goes by fast.
For more news on Brett Miller and Care Free Pools log onto http://www.brettmillerracing.net
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Photo by Steve Lamothe
www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com
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