C&C Racing Promotions, in conjunction with the True Value
Modified Racing Series and the Twin State Speedway in Claremont,
NH, announced last week that the first annual Ricky Miller
Memorial 100 will be a qualifier for the 6th Annual John Blewett
III Memorial North-South ShootoutTM. Both Modified
races honor outstanding racers whose lives were cut far too
short.
The winning car owner of the Ricky Miller Memorial 100 for
the True Value Modified Racing Series scheduled for Sunday,
September 28, 2008, as part of the two-day Twin State Speedway
Fall Challenge, will earn a guaranteed starting spot in the 6th
Annual North-South ShootoutTM. The annual event will
take place on November 7&8, 2008 at Concord Motorsport Park in
Concord, NC.
“For the last several years we have enjoyed a good
relationship with the management and the competitors of the True
Value Modified Racing Series,” said Promoter Charles Kepley. “We
are proud to continue this relationship in 2008 and equally
excited about working with the great team at the Twin State
Speedway.”
The North-South ShootoutTM, an annual Modified
event that features the cars and the stars of both the Northern
and Southern Modified racing community in an all green flag
racing shootout to the finish, was named in honor of New Jersey
racer John Blewett III after his untimely death in a racing
accident in August of 2007. Blewett won the inaugural Shootout
in 2003 and again in 2005.
“It’s a great honor for Twin State Speedway along with True
Value Modified Racing Series to be hosting the 1st annual Ricky
Miller Memorial 100,” said Mike Parks, Twin State Speedway Race
Director. “And with C&C Racing Promotions naming the event as a
North-South ShootoutTM Qualifier, it will help to
make this very special event one of the brightest stops on the
True Value schedule.”
The annual North-South ShootoutTMhas become a
staple among both Northern and Southern race fans because of the
excitement that the event generates by bringing together the
racers from the various Tour-Type Modified Series on the East
Coast on the ultra-fast, tri-oval at Concord Motorsport Park.
"Ricky was always a racer who would just load his car and go
to a race,” continued Parks, who was also a crew member for
Miller. “The North-South ShootoutTM would have been
an event Ricky would not have missed."
The annual John Blewett III Memorial North-South ShootoutTM
is now also a sentimental favorite for competitors.
Miller, who was a Modified standout at Twin State Speedway,
when the track ran under the Claremont Speedway banner, died at
the age of 34 in 2004. The Ricky Miller Memorial, named for one
of the most likeable racers to have competed, will likely gain
the same level of merit from the racers and the racing
community.
The always colorful and personable competitor may be best
known for his 1999 Riverside Park Speedway championship, the
final Modified champion of the now defunct Speedway. He will
forever stand in history as the winner of the final Whelen
Modified Tour race ever held at the famed Riverside Park
Speedway in Agawam, MA.
“In racing there is no higher honor than to be called a
racer”, said True Value Modified Racing Series Marketing
director John Hoyt. “Ricky Miller was a racer.”
Ricky is remembered not only as an accomplished racer but
also as an integral part of the legendary Modified Team for
owner Mario Foire, where he served as crew chief.
Miller began his racing career at the Claremont, NH, oval in
the Street Stocks before moving to the Pro Stocks and ultimately
the Modifieds. Miller raced his final race at Thrasher Road
before retiring from the sport.
The Miller family has a long history at the speedway. Ricky’s
dad, Donnie Miller, was a multi-time track champion at the
speedway. True Value Modified Racing Series founder Jack Bateman
called Donnie one of Claremont’s modified heroes, known as” The
Golden Jet”.
“The opportunity to honor and remember one of the speedway’s
greatest names makes the event that much more special,”
continued Parks.
Qualifying races have been a part of the North-South ShootoutTM
since its inception in 2003. The Miller Memorial 100 will be one
of several races that will be slated as qualifiers for the
Modified portion of the upcoming Shootout. A complete schedule
of qualifying races for the Northern and Southern Modifieds
along with the SK-Type Modifieds, and the Supermodifieds will be
forthcoming.
To learn more about the Ricky Miller Memorial and the Fall
Challenge contact, the Twin State Speedway at (603) 543-3160 or
the True Value Modified Racing Series at 800-924-2594.
To learn more about the 6th Annual John Blewett III Memorial
North-South ShootoutTM log on to
northsouthshootout.com or call (508) 847-0565.
Source: Dale
Wolbrink/racinpr@aol.com
Posted:
May 15, 2008
