This message was edited on
March 18, 2007 at
06:37:43 PM by Gary Thomas
Brett Miller has solid weekend with GSC at Kings Speedway
By Gary Thomas
Hanford, CA - March 18, 2007... Chico’s Brett Miller had never been to the Kings Speedway before this past weekend, but you couldn’t tell as the 17-year-old Golden State Challenge Series Rookie of the Year contender took a quick liking to the 3/8 mile oval. The youngster got up to speed very quickly on the Hanford clay as the Care Free Pools crew had the car working well right off the bat.
Brett’s first qualifying session on the track produced an eighth quick effort out of the 29 cars that took times. He started fifth in his heat race and ran a smooth first part of the heat in fifth before leader Craig Stidham came to a stop, which bumped Brett up to the fourth and final transfer spot. He then had to hold off fellow youngster Evan Suggs the last few laps and at the checkered flag the Care Free Custom Graphics, Platinum Powder Coating, A1A Performance Muffler No. 1x sat in fourth to transfer out of the heat.
The Golden State Challenge Series runs a dash, which is comprised of the top eight quickest qualifiers who make it out of the heats. With Brett qualifying eighth quick it put him in his first dash of the season. Unfortunately, a drive line failure put him out of contention in the dash after a couple laps and he had to settle for an eighth place finish.
Brett started eighth in the 30 lap main event and the Kings Speedway clay remained fast all night but had developed some rough spots, which made it treacherous in certain areas. Brett ran smooth and solid right from the get go and had the Jandy Pool Products, Wolfe Electric, Al’s Concrete Maxim in the top 10 for the entire race. It certainly didn’t look as if it were Brett’s first time running Kings Speedway and he began to gain speed as the laps wore on. The last couple laps were frantic as Jonathan Allard ran out of fuel, which jumbled everybody up who was running fifth through 10th. Brett carved his way around a couple cars and then nipped Allard at the line to score a terrific sixth place finish. It was Brett’s best ever finish with the Golden State Challenge Series and came at one of the most competitive tracks on the tour. It was a long, draining race that took nearly an hour and a half to complete. After the races Brett was visibly worn out and jokingly commented, "I need to go the gym."
Saturday brought another night of GSC action at the Kings Speedway and track conditions were drastically different right from the get go. Temperatures during the day reached nearly 90 degrees and three support classes were included on the card, which dried out the track considerably.
Dry spots around the Kings Speedway surface had already started to appear in hot laps and Brett drew a late number for qualifying. Turns one and two had gotten extremely slick by the time Brett hit the track and Kings Speedway is a tricky track to navigate when it gets that icy. He timed in 24th quickest but it did give him a front row starting spot for his heat.
Heat races with GSC pay five points to the winner and as the season goes on those points add up so racking up as many as possible is big. Brett jumped out into the lead as the green flag waved and looked good as he finessed the extremely slick and hard packed Kings Speedway surface. Throttle control was very important with the way the track was and Brett had it down as he went on to pick up the win in the Aspire Homes, River City Pool Plastering, JP’s Paint & Body Works No. 1x.
For the 30 lap main event Brett started way back in the 19th position and the track had gotten even more slicker as the night wore on. For the second night in a row cautions plagued the flow of the race as the track conditions were extremely tough. Brett once again ran an extremely smooth race and kept the Country Crafter’s Cabinet Shop Maxim on the track and gained a bunch of experience by making it through a clean 30 laps. You can’t learn unless you’re out on the track and finishing races is what it takes to grow as driver and Brett did just that by bringing the Care Free Pools machine home in 12th place.
Brett and the whole team did an exceptional job their first time out at Kings Speedway and it helped them move up to seventh in the Golden State Challenge Series point standings. Brett currently has 255 points and only sits 10 points out of fifth.
Up next for Brett and Care Free Pools Racing will be a trip to the red clay bullring of Placerville Speedway, which is the fifth round of competition for the Golden State Challenge Series. Placerville is a super high-banked and fast track, where Brett has a handful of starts at.
For more info on Chico driver Brett Miller visit the official website of Brett Miller and Care Free Pools Racing located at www.brettmillerracing.net
www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com
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