Sears Point: Johnny Miller Saturday notes

Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, California- Johnny Miller, in the #64 Eaton Cutler-Hammer Jaguar XKR, qualified in 6th position for Sunday's Trans-Am Series for the BFGoodrich Cup race. Johnny is the only driver in the field that has chosen to run the BFG hard compound on both rear tires.

The Rocketsports crew has been battling a loose condition in the car's setup. "The car has been loose all weekend. I'm not sure we could fix it", stated Miller. The team made setup changes to the car and feel the #64 should find its way up front.

Choosing the hard compound costs a little on speed and the tires take a few laps to come up to temperature. However, they do not go away on long runs and there should be plenty of tire left at the end of the race. At this track the selection probably costs about .4 to .7 seconds per lap. Johnny believes this tire selection could be a key decision that will help him win the race at the end. The Infineon Raceway is proven to be hard on tires.

Johnny had a good "flyer" lap going near the middle of the session. However the fast lap was aborted when a slower competitor blocked the optimal line costing him a potentially top lap time.

"I am really frustrated at the qualifying spot", quipped Miller.

For Sunday's race, crew chief Bobby Houghton said the strategy was simple. "We'll get out front early. I know we will have a good car at the end. If we can get up with the leaders, we'll make them run off their tires."

Miller will start his 95th Trans-Am race Sunday. Johnny will join an exclusive list of drivers that have earned 95 plus starts. Names like Gentilozzi, Derhaag, Pickett, Simo and others are on the list. By the conclusion of the 2003 season, Miller will accomplish 100 starts. The achievement has been a lifelong goal of Miller's.

"That will be the highlight of my career. All I have ever wanted to do is compete in Trans-Am and to reach this number of starts means a lot to me", commented Miller. "The list of drivers to run that many events is some pretty serious company to keep", said Miller.