Miller Racing ready for Monterey

Salt Lake City – Miller Racing, based in Salt Lake City, will be racing at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca this Sunday, September 8, in Round 10 of the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Series.

#158 Dempsey/Miller Racing Mustang Boss 302R GT: Ian James, Roger Miller

Photo by: Art Fleischmann

Joe Foster, who is co-team principal with Patrick Dempsey at Dempsey Racing, has more than 25 years of professional racing experience at the top levels of international sports car racing. The 2008 Grand Sports class champion in the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, Foster has a strong connection to the Miller family, Miller Motorsports Park and the Ford Racing School as one of the school’s longest-serving instructors and a longtime friend of Roger Miller.

The race at historic Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca will be the penultimate round of the 2013 championship. The iconic facility, located on California’s picturesque Monterey Peninsula, opened in 1957 and has hosted almost every major motorsports championship through its long and storied history. The 2.238-mile, 11-turn track, best known for the “Corkscrew” turn that plunges five stories, provides a stern test for both man and machine.

This weekend features a shorter time schedule than most events this year. Cars will hit the track for the first time on Saturday, September 7, with a 45-minute practice session at 9:15 am local time, another 30-minute practice session at 1:35 pm and qualifying for the Grand Sports class in which the Miller Racing/Total Care Auto Boss 302R competes at 4:00 pm. The 2.5-hour race will take the green flag at 10:00 am local time (11:00 am MDT) on Sunday, September 8.

“Thank you to Joe Foster for stepping in at Laguna Seca,” said James. “Although well known as the co-team principal at Dempsey Racing, Joe is a proven winner in these cars and there is nobody better to jump in the No. 158 Total Care Auto Boss 302R. Although I have raced on the same team and against Joe for many years, we haven’t actually ever shared the same car, so I am looking forward to that.”

“It’s an honor for myself and Patrick to have participated with Roger Miller in his life's passion and we are grateful to the Miller family for their continuation of the Miller Racing program in Roger's honor. Roger and Ian had become very close friends, and I’m sure it’s important to him to continue on in line with Roger’s true racing spirit. I'm lucky to share the No. 158 with Ian this weekend.”

“We appreciate Joe volunteering to co-drive with Ian this weekend,” said Cheri Miller, widow of Roger Miller. “He is certainly more than qualified to do the job, and I know Roger would approve of having his good friend behind the wheel of Miller Racing’s No. 158 Total Care Auto Boss 302R. We are looking forward to seeing Ian and Joe mixing it up at the front of the field at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, and wish them all the best.”

The race from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca will be broadcast on a tape-delayed basis at 2:00 p.m. MDT on Sunday, September 15, on Fox Sports 1 (formerly SPEED).

Miller Racing