May 1, 2006- LaJunta, CO- Transplanted Texan Gary Miller first began coming to Colorado 350Z track days as far back as 2003. He never expected to put his Silverstone 350Z in harm's way, but over the years he found he had the interest and aptitude to both enjoy and learn. Progressing from student to instructor in these informal HPDEs was a natural, as many Colorado 350Z pilots were aided by his insights. Miller began to move on to both open track days and the SCCA Time Trial program, where he learned (to his horror) that his BBK moved him to the OSP class. Holy overmatched, Batman!

But his efforts and growth as a driver did not go unnoticed. It was rumored that both Williams GP Engineering (prior to Nico Rosberg's arrival) and Ferrari (after Felipe Massa's arrival), were mulling over whether to offer Miller a test. Before either equipe could commit, a surprise announcement was made when Miller was scooped up by the American Nissan team, Illusion Motorsports Ltd. Miller was offered the opportunity to qualify for his SCCA road racing novice permit through the SCCA school held the last weekend in April at the famed LaJunta Raceway in SW Colorado. He would have to cope with unexpected challenges and dangers in the team's backup ITA 200SX Se-R racecar. Would he be able to raise the level of his game?

The Friday orientation found the team traveling through rain, ice and sleet to reach the track. An ambitious and tight schedule would test both man and machine from the start and some students found themselves missing the orientation session. But Miller managed the keep his head up and was even ready on the grid the following morning. As his group moved to the track, high winds and rapidly moving clouds quickly gave way to rain and hail on differing parts of the 1.4 mile circuit. A Mazda RX-7 skidded on the slick surface and was unfortunate enough to collect the front straightway wall. Miller kept his cool, responded to the flags and ducked into the pits.

The next sessions found Miller adjusting to the FWD ITA racer and running with more experienced drivers in door-to-door running. He never missed a beat throughout the morning and early afternoon sessions, while exhibiting both consistency and speed. "I saw a lot of promise in Gary's abilities with the 350Z", said team principal David Muramoto. "But this is quite impressive. Eddie Jordon keeps saying it's like the day they tested Schumi at Spa!" Other students ran into mechanical difficulties and cars were rented in an attempt to complete the first of the two mandated SCCA schools. The climax of the day was for students to perform practice starts and 'live fire' racing with other experienced and licensed racers. Miller's need for speed was undeniable as he lined up on pole position for the first start. Holding the inside line, he was quickly overtaken on the outside by a Acura RSX type S and WRX STI! The field quickly reformed and Miller found himself on the outside pole for the second restart. Making a brilliant start, he managed to hold off the playful Regional field (no way is 140 HP going to hold up against 300 turbo ponies) for the second practice. The final start would feature a 10 lap race and the SCCA drivers turned in a spectacular display of side-to-side driving thoughout the track. While dazzled by the skills of experienced racers, Miller did not let up and was rewarded by the sight of the checkered flag signaling his victory.

After receiving the traditional trophy and champagne on the podium, Miller was elated to learn that his performance had earned him a waiver through his second SCCA school. His background and performance had earned his SCCA Novice permit in one weekend! He is now free to begin entering SCCA Regional races and begin his move up the motorsports ladder. Miller's self-depreciating comments only served to highlight his performance that day. "I can't wait to get out and spend ALL my money on racing", he said with a certain wistfulness. Others took note of how quickly this 350Z driver had moved so quickly into the ranks of amateur racing. Patrick Head (Williams GP Engineering): "It's daft how quickly a driver's performance will send his value skyrocketing! He'll probably want five, six million to start, when all we give Nico is some yak butter in comparison." Jean Todt was rumored to have asked if Miller smoked Marlboros (he doesn't) and would like to learn Italian.

Who said being a 350Z driver doesn't pay?

 

Great write up - you might want to write a book?

This made me laugh:

 

Great write up.

This made me laugh:

 

Laughter was what I was going for! The weekend in LaJunta was indeed memorable and one of those serendipitous events in racing that no one gets to hear of.

 

Thanxs for posting!

 

LOL! Congrats Gary, so when are you ditching this whole expensive 350Z craze and going into spec Miata?
I'm sure you and David will have a GREAT seaon, and i hope to catch you guys out at the track. Congrats again,
Will

 

Great story!

 

Thanks guys, and a HUGE thanks to dkmura for making all of this possible and for putting together that write-up (I particularly liked the F1 comments thrown in there...but I'm afraid that the only way that Jean Todt will ever know my name is if I get caught stealing one of Schumy's cast-off hamburger wrappers at the USGP!) What a weekend!

From the rain, hail, and bent cars in the first session to the 10-lap shootout at the end, it was definitely an event to remember. Of all the moments that a student encounters during an SCCA driving school, one of the more memorable ones for me came when our chief instructor mentioned in a classroom session, almost as an afterthought, that when the green flag flies in our on-track sessions, 'there are no restrictions on passing'. To someone who has been attending a variety of HPDE events where most of the emphasis is (rightly) on the large number of passing restrictions, this moment stands out as one of those where the switch gets flipped, and emphasizes that this is the ultimate level of the performance car and racing fan 'hobby' (although I think that hobby doesn't adequately describe what this is).

In no particular order, here are several other moments of interest from the weekend:

- Being out on track all by myself during one of the sessions, as all the other students in my group were experiencing mechanical difficulties of one kind or another, while there were 4 racing groups in the paddock just itching to get on track for their own sessions. Like David said afterwards, it was like I was
out there for my own personal F1-style qualifying session!

- Meeting a ton of great people, who all seem to want nothing more than to help a new racer like myself get started...offering everything from advice on cars and classes to the opportunity to try on a couple of cars for size, just for asking!

- The extremely high level of professionalism exhibited by the SCCA club racing officials, from the pit and grid marshals to the flaggers to the stewards to the instructors to the registrars to the tech inspectors to the race organizers and everyone else involved in putting on an event like this...you'd never know that these people are volunteers, as they act like world-class professionals at the top of their game.

- Accelerating hard through a dry turn 1 and turn 2 in the first session of the morning, only to crest the hill into the braking zone for turn 3 and be greeted by the sight of an absolute downpour of rain and hail onto that slick concrete. You haven't lived until you've encountered THAT little gem on racing tires. (Fortunately, every other session of the day was dry.)

- Dicing with some of the instructors during the school race. These guys had the talent and the horsepower to just completely blow me into the weeds, but they restrained all that to instead give the students a variety of real-world racing scenarios on track at speed. Everything from leaving the line open to invite (and allow) a pass at speed into T3, to taking a defensive line through there on the next lap to show you what that looks like, to going side-by-side through 3, 4, and 5, to showing a nose into T7 but leaving me just enough room to close the door and take the line, I feel like I've got a pretty good idea of what those situations look like when experienced in anger.

- The realization that all the car control and lapping experience that you gain on a track day is just the price of entry into racing. When you're out there racing, you almost have to take car control and track navigation skills for granted, because now you've also got to worry about all those cars around you, what the flaggers are doing, where you can set up this car in front of you for a pass, how you can keep that car behind you from passing, how hard you can run your tires to not run them off before the end of the race, etc. The words 'information overload' don't even begin to describe it.

- Taking the checkered flag and P1 in the school race. When you approach the start/finish stand at speed coming out of the last turn in the lead on the final lap, and the flagger has a furled checker in each hand pointing emphatically at YOU to signify that you're the first to take them, then snaps her wrists to unfurl the flags and treat you to a 2-handed, Indy 500-style flag-crossing checker, you get an adrenaline rush that I just can't describe.

I really can't thank David enough, for everything from offering a fully-sponsored ride for the event (the first and probably last time in my racing career that THAT will ever happen), to lots of time spent before the weekend helping me prepare, to tirelessly giving me a ton of solid instruction and feedback during the event. It's more than anyone has the right to expect, and is more than I can even begin to repay. David is the perfect example of the type of high quality people that we have in our 350Z group.

Now, where's that SCCA Club Racing calendar? Gotta figure out what races I want to enter!

 

A few pictures. I'm in the red #7 200SX, and instructors are in the 2 white Acuras and the blue STi (the red Mazda sedan and the white Miata are 2 of my fellow students).

 

One final note: while this story was done with tongue firmly planted in cheek, it goes to show how much FUN you can have just getting through SCCA driver's school. Not everyone will get through the experience unscathed, but having a well-prepped and reliable car is a great start. The mental side should not be underestimated either and whether it's F1 or Club racing, the approach is similar.

 

So for all those 350Z SCCA racers out there, FIND those special Z car drivers in your area and help them get into racing! Consider giving a little back to the sport and you won't regret it.

 

Wow - the SCCA schools sound 10x more intense than a HPDE event!
There aren't to many Z drivers that track in my area for some reason, and the Florida and Southeast area has a lot of oppourtunity to drive year round. It seems that the Mazda owners are more into this than the Z owners in this area for some reason? Funny thing is that all these guys want to take a ride in my car to see how it tracks and are always suprised at how well it corners even though it is a heavy car!
If you ever come down to this part of the country - let me know, would love to see a Z race.

 

That's great. What a dream come true. Wish you much success.

 

Funny- I know several top Nissan SCCA drivers campaigning in Georgia. What tracks do you go to? I really enjoyed racing at Road Atlanta and would love to go there again.

 

Congrats, Gary on your SCCA school! I think you will find that there is nothing quite like wheel to wheel racing. And there is nothing, and I do mean NOTHING, like winning your first race. Welcome to the fraternity!

 

Thanks; I feel like from here on out I'll look at my life as having two distinct phases...before I started racing, and after I started racing.

 

I run the NASA and Chin events here. Haven't been to a SCCA except for SoloII. Haven't been to road Atlanta - something else always comes up, but that track looks like a lot of fun - especially the elevation changes and the S's.
I will be at Roebling in a week and a half, then Gainesville (Florida) a few weeks after that (a private track day with a bunch of G35's), then a few weeks later off to Barber Motorsports Park (never been here and have heard it is one of the best tracks in all the US?).

 

Let us know what your experience at Barber is like. I stopped by on my way through to pick up my tubeframe chassis (in Atlanta) last year. The grounds look very impressive, but I've heard concerns over how they conduct business (ie. any damage, however accidental, is charged back to the sanctioning club).