W.E.Rock Dirt Riot Racing Thompson Ranch Southwest Series Round 1 March 7th-9th, 2014 March 17, 2014 (Marana, AZ)-Miller Racing’s driver Ryan Miller starts the 2014 season off hot(literally!), taking 1st place at the Southwest Series opener of the W.E.Rock Dirt Riot Series. After a random draw start, Ryan would be starting where he usually does in the back of the pack. Besides being the target of everyone in the race, Ryan would have his work cut out for him with Rawlin McGhie starting 1st, who finish 2nd in National Points last year, and starting 2 positions in front of Ryan would be fellow Arizona Undertaker Matt Hinitt. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity at the start line as Rawlin was out into the Arizona desert, Ryan and co-driver Derek Crase would get the green flag, banging the rev-limiter and making dust in pursuit of the cars in front of them. Entering the 1st rock section they would pass their first car, who had just suffered from a severely bent wheel and was struggling to make the climb. Before the 1st mile, the #26 Miller Racing car would pass yet another competitor as they pulled off with a flat tire as well. Ryan and Derek continued to charge, passing each vehicle they approached quickly while gaining ground on Matt. As they finished lap 1, Rawlin would still be out of sight and out in front, with Matt directly in front of them in 2nd. Now the race was on with the 3 buggies that many considered favorites to win separated only by time in pursuit of the checkered flag. Back out into the desert, Matt was followed closely by Ryan and Derek as they picked their way through lap traffic, both trying to gain ground on Rawlin. Lap 3 would be no different than lap 2 with the 2 4-cylinder YJ buggies wound-up, attempting to make their way to the front. After passing more lap traffic on lap 4, they would enter a short rock section that exited into a sand wash. Ryan got inches off the back of Matt’s buggy as they entered the sand wash, eventually overtaking Matt in what might be considered the slowest drag race in history as the course narrowed into 1 lane back out into the Arizona desert. Finishing lap 4 now physically in 2nd place and with no answer as to how far they were behind the physical leader Rawlin, Ryan and Derek got a white flag. They had 1 lap to do anything and everything they could to try and catch him. With no communication to the pit or between eachother since lap 3(which was later found to be a cable that had unplugged) Derek used hand signals to help Ryan stay on course. As they approached the first rock section with a broken car in the middle and another one stuck on the left hand side, Ryan quickly went to the right attempting to clear a big rock. After getting stuck on the rock twice, the #26 car would eventually make it up the rock section. As they continued, the car was getting hot and seemed to be slightly down on power as the water temperature slowly increased due to a small puncture in the radiator. Finishing the remainder of lap 5, Ryan and Derek took the checkered flag as the water temperature topped 260 degrees. They never saw Rawlin the entire race and crossed the finish line physically in 2nd place. The official times would reveal that the #26 Miller Racing car of Ryan and Derek edged out Rawlin, taking the win by 20 seconds on corrected time. The win would be Ryan’s 10th straight in a great start to what could shape up to be one awesome racing season. Miller Racing would like to thank our all of our marketing partners for their superior products and excellent support: ADS Off-Road Racing Shocks, Artec Industries, Southwest Fastener, Black N Blue Racing, Howe Performance, Fly-N-Hi, Raceline Wheels, Rugged Radios, LetzRoll OffRoad, SDHQ, Rigid Industries, Campbell Enterprises, and Arizona Undertakers. Thank you to all our friends and fellow racers who came out to support us as well! Pit Crew: Arizona Undertakers, Fly-N-Hi, LetzRoll Offroad Next up for Miller Racing: April 4th-5th W.E.Rock Dirt Riot Southwest Series 2nd Round Tucson, AZ Follow us at: Facebook-Miller Racing facebook/millerracing26az Photo Credit: HigherGround4x4 and Don Lawrence Photo
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 15:31:46 +0000