W.E.Rock Dirt Riot Racing Bridgeport, TX National Rampage September 26th-27th, 2014 October 24th, 2014 (Marana, AZ)-Miller Racing finishes the 2014 Dirt Riot season off with a 2nd place finish at the National Rampage, securing their 3rd straight National Championship. Ryan and Derek would go to Rock City Burger on Friday afternoon for the Driver Meet and Greet and the series awards ceremony. After a tasty burger and meeting some other racers from the other series’, the team relaxed for the night. On Saturday morning, they would check over the #26 Miller Racing buggy to make sure everything was ready to make the push from last to first. With the green flag, Ryan would charge to the 1st rock section off the start line as Derek called out the broken or stuck rigs already scattered in the rock pile. On a clean run though, they had already gained 2 positions on the field in the first ¼ mile. With the Championship already won and no concern with finishing the 1st lap for points, Ryan made the 4-cylinder scream into the desert, hungry for a win. As they approached the pit, Ryan and Derek would catch 2 cars, but were unable to get around them before the pit. Ryan was hot going into the pit, knowing that there were many more cars out in front and that he needed to pass them now. As they exited the pit area, both cars went for the preferred right line. Ryan decided to go for it through the middle and over a rock pile, holding nothing back. The #26 machine was able to overtake 1 car on that line but would fall behind the other into the fast wash section. Not letting the dust force him to slow down, Ryan would push to stay up on the remaining car as Derek kept him on course and away from the various trees. Entering a tighter section of course, the remaining car would give way to the #26 as Ryan and Derek kept moving to the front. They would pass a few more cars on their way to completing their 1st lap, with ½ the field now behind them. The 2nd lap would go by smooth with a couple more passes, placing the #26 Miller Racing car physically in 3rd as they began lap 3. Ryan and Derek would make the pass to move physically into 2nd before the pit, with no sign of the 1st place car. Still pushing for a win, Ryan would sense trouble with about 1 mile to go in lap 3, and a 4th lap yet to come. The little 4-cylinder had lost a gasket and some oil, causing the lifters to knock at extended times of high rpm. Faintly hearing this for the first time, Ryan backed out a bit, getting the oil pressure back up and making the engine happy. It was now decision time. Either run the car hard till it blows up, pull over and add more oil, or keep it moving as fast as possible knowing they could stay in 2nd place even at a reduced speed. Ryan and Derek chose to keep moving. Having to back out at times and lug the car up some of the steep hills, the team would make it past the pit on lap 4 with 2 miles left in the race. In a tight wooded section, they would see the hood of the lead car laying on the course, but still no sign of the leader. As they exited the wooded section, they would spot the lead car with no more than a 45 second lead on them, putting them out of the lead by 15 seconds on corrected time! Ryan wanted the win bad, so he tried to push the #26 as hard as he could, but the car did not agree. As much as he wanted to floor it, Ryan had to back it down and successfully limped it to the finish for a 2nd place finish. Miller Racing would like to thank all of our marketing partners for their excellent support and superior products: ADS Off-Road Racing Shocks, Artec Industries, Southwest Fastener, Black N Blue Racing, Howe Performance, JM Rigging Supply, Raceline Wheels, SDHQ, Fly-N-Hi, Rugged Radios, Rigid Industries, LetzRoll Offroad, Campbell Enterprises, and Arizona Undertakers. Thank you to all our friends and fellow racers who came out to support us! Pit Crew: Bill Baird Motorsports: Bill, Keith, Brian, Kenny, and Austin. Next up for Miller Racing: 2015 Season Follow us at: Facebook-Miller Racing facebook/millerracing26az Photo Credit: SharkByte Photography
Posted on: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 17:41:45 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015