RICKY MILLER MEMORIAL
NAMED
NORTH-SOUTH SHOOTOUT QUALIFIER
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
Shootout TM. 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
Shootout TM. 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 Shootout TM, 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 Shootout TM
Qualifier, it will help to make this very special event one of the
brightest stops on the True Value schedule.”
The annual North-South Shootout TM has 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 Shootout TM would have been an event Ricky would not have
missed."
The annual John Blewett III Memorial North-South Shootout TM
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 Shootout
TM since it’s 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 Shootout TM log on to
northsouthshootout.com or call (508) 847-0565.