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Brett Miller scores career best GSC finish in Watsonville
By Gary Thomas
Watsonville, CA - May 6, 2007...After getting upside down in Chico on Friday night, Brett Miller and the Care Free Pools Racing team showed strength and toughness as they came back on Saturday and recorded a top five with the Golden State Challenge Series for the very first time. Brett and the team have been working very hard this season and to see it pay off with a top five after a rough last couple races is very sweet. Brett came into the weekend after suffering a hard flip last Saturday night in Tulare and looked to rebound as he and the team hit Silver Dollar Speedway on Friday night to kick off the weekend.
Remarkably, the team was using the exact same car that went through the flip in Tulare. Brett and family would like to thank the hard working crew of the 1x for their continued dedication including: Keith Berge, Scot Clarke, David Peterson and Bobby Bumgarner. They didn’t get home from Tulare last weekend until 4:30 am Sunday morning, but still had the car stripped down and ready for the frame shop by Sunday night. Also special thanks to Heath Hall who had the car fixed up and back by noon on Thursday so the 1x team could utilize the car in Chico prior to next weekend’s Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial.
Friday night at Silver Dollar Speedway served as Point Race #6 and Brett started off the night by qualifying 18th quickest with a lap of 12.235 aboard the Care Free Pools, Care Free Custom Graphics, Platinum Powder Coating, Wolfe Electric No. 1x. He then started from the outside of the front row in the night’s second heat race. "The Catfish" jumped into the lead as the green flag waved and he began to walk away from the field. Brett was out front comfortably until a few laps left when defending GSC champ Jonathan Allard closed in. Allard put some extremely heavy pressure on the back of Brett, but it didn’t faze the 17 year-old Chico native and he held off the No. 0 car to pick up an exciting heat race win.
Brett lined up way back in the 14th starting position for the night’s 25 lap main event. Early on he ran steady as the track was hooked up and as fast as it had been all year. After a handful of laps he began to pick off cars and as the race had reached the midway point, Brett was flying around the 1/4 mile clay oval. The crew had given him a great car as the RPM Racing Engines powered Maxim Chassis No. 1x was on a roll. "The Catfish" went by drivers like Jason Statler and Trevor Green and had nearly made his way up to the top five when disaster struck with just a handful of laps to go. As Brett was chasing down the top runners, another car heading to the pits cut across the groove and knocked Brett off the track in turn one which ended with the Aspire Homes, JP’s Paint & Body, Al’s Concrete, A1A Performance Muffler No. 1x getting upside off the turn. It put a very disappointing end to the main event that had gone very well and saw Brett look extremely sharp behind the wheel as he made some of his best moves all season.
Friday night was put behind Brett and the team however, as Golden State Challenge Series Round #10 was on tap for Saturday at the Ocean Speedway in Watsonville. This was Brett’s first time running the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds 1/4 mile bullring. He started off the night by qualifying the Jandy Pools, Smartwebsales.com, Kaeding Performance, River City Pools No. 1x 10th quickest overall with a lap of 13.151. He lined up in the second row during the night’s opening heat race and ran strong to put himself in the fifth position as the laps wound down. Jason Statler applied heavy pressure to the back of Brett, but for the second night in a row the "Catfish" was able to hold off a former GSC champ in his heat race and brought home a fifth place finish to transfer out of the heat.
With a couple of the faster qualifiers not making it through their heats, it put Brett into his second dash of the season. He started the dash in eighth place and finished seventh to set him up with an inside row number four starting position for the 30 lap feature.
Strong winds took their toll on the track surface and it had become dry and one lane on the bottom for the feature. Brett’s nickname of the "Catfish" came in handy as he drove the bottom to perfection and had his best run of the season with the Golden State Challenge Series. Brett was sitting in sixth when a caution came out on lap four and on the restart he made the move under Jonathan Allard off turn four to take over the fifth position. Allard was able to get back by on lap nine, but the 17 year-old stayed close to him the rest of the race and continued to hound the 0 machine as the laps wound down.
Lap 17 saw Allard and Brett get by Jim Skinner on consecutive laps and after that Brett made a bid on Allard. The youngster had good grip around the bottom and with a handful of laps left Brett was nearly able to get side by side with Allard going down the front straightaway, but he ran Allard very clean and continued on in fifth where he would go on and finish. Whenever you can battle with a driver like Jonathan Allard it’s a thing to be happy of and Brett gave him everything he could handle during the feature.
This coming weekend will see the biggest night of racing this season for the Golden State Challenge Series as the Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial takes place on Saturday at Silver Dollar Speedway. The event pays honor to racing star Dave Bradway Jr. who was taken from us in a crash at the Skagit Speedway in 1987. The race has been going on since 1991 and is always the most prestigious event to win during the GSC season.
The action gets underway on Friday night at Silver Dollar Speedway with Point Race #7. The night will feature the highest paying Point Race of the season as extra sponsors have boosted the winning payday up to $2,350. Then on Saturday night it will be the 17th Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial, which also serves as Golden State Challenge Series Round #11. We hope everybody can make it out to Saturday’s race as this is always one of the best night’s of the season as we pay tribute to a driver that gave his life to the sport we love.
For more news and info on Brett Miller and Care Free Pools Racing log onto http://www.brettmillerracing.net
www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com
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Coming off his best career Golden State Challenge Series finish, Chico's Brett Miller will look for more good things when the series moves to Silver Dollar Speedway this coming weekend. Photos by Davy Thomas
www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com
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