Sports car community reflects on Roger Miller’s passing

By Aug 20, 2013, 3:00 PM EDT
Miller (2nd from right) with the Dempsey Racing team at Road America two weeks ago.
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The racing fraternity, and the niche that is the North American sports car community, is a tight-knit bunch. So it came as a shock to most to hear of the passing of Roger Miller, son of Utah business legend Larry H. Miller, after this weekend’s GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race in Kansas. Roger Miller was 45; he was a regular in CTSCC and made several starts in the Pirelli World Challenge GTS class, in both cases, in a Ford Mustang Boss 302.

Although this is by no means exhaustive, here are some quotes and tweets remembering Miller that have emerged over the last two days.

QUOTES FROM DEMPSEY RACING TEAM

Patrick Dempsey: “The news hit us all hard, a shocking and deeply sad loss of a dear friend. We can’t express enough our sorrow and sympathy for Roger and his family. He was an integral part of our team and, more significantly, such a great friend for much longer than that. Our relationship with Roger and his family started at Miller Motorsports Park several years prior to racing with him and it was always a pleasure. Just a fantastic person, great teammate, and I am so glad, Joe, Ian and I and other members of our team were able to spend some time that will now be cherished with Roger just two weeks ago at Road America.”

Joe Foster: “What a shocking loss to all of us. Roger was a friend and I so enjoyed his passion for all things friends, family and racing.  While not losing focus on family and business, Roger had put a huge effort into his on-track performance and had made big progress.  Patrick and I really enjoyed his company at the races along with Cheri and the kids.  I am just numb and I can only think of his family at the moment.”

Ian James: “Devastating news, Roger was without doubt one of the nicest people I have had the fortune to call a friend. Generous almost to a fault, always making sure everybody else had what they needed, and a burning passion for racing that was unrivaled. He started racing later in life but he just kept getting better and better every race, I will truly cherish the good times and his ever present smile that would brighten anyone’s day. My thoughts and prayers go out to his wonderful family that he cared so much about.

TWEETS

Al Carter (@alcarter3): Hard to believe the surprising news of the passing of Roger Miller. Condolence to his family and all those he knew.

Tyler Cooke (@TylerCooke116): Still can’t believe the news of Roger Miller passing yesterday. We raced with him at Kansas. #RIP

Turner Motorsport (@TurnerMotrsprt): Extremely sad to hear unexpected death of Roger Miller, a friend and racer in the Grand-Am Series. Thoughts and prayers with his family.

Scott Maxwell (@smaxwell27) Thoughts go out to all the friends and family of Roger Miller. He will be missed.

Gunnar Jeannette (@gunnarjeannette): Really sad to hear of the passing of Roger Miller. He was a great guy & passionate racer.

Calvin Fish (@calvinfish): Shocked to hear of passing of @continentaltire driver Roger Miller. Just so so sad, great guy with lots to live for.Thoughts to family #RIP

Pirelli World Challenge (@WCRacing): Our condolences to the friends and family of Roger Miller. You will be missed by your racing family. @NASAUtah @rlmlr

Andy Lally (@AndyLally): Really sad to hear of the passing of Continental driver Roger Miller this morning. A very passionate racer and great guy. RIP.

Jeremy Scott, MRN Kansas pit reporter (@jscottontheair) : Wow, sad news to hear that Roger Miller has passed away. This after finishing 11th in yesterday’s CTSCC race. Prayers to the Miller family.

Matt Cleary, Sunday Group Management (@sundaygroup): Very sad news of Roger Miller passing. His dad was big reason  for Mustang Challenge @FordRacing

Spencer Ryan Hall (saltcityhoops) : Sorry to hear about the passing of Roger Miller, the son of Larry H. Miller. He was a father of 9 kids & a 28-year employee w/ LHM companies

David Locke (lockedonsports, Jazz announcer): Stunned to hear news of Roger Miller’s passing.  Always enjoyed our talks about technology and cars.  Deepest thoughts to Miller family. DL

Ryan Eversley (@ryaneversley): I’ve just learned that Roger Miller who races in our @CT_Challenge has passed away. We just raced together yesterday in Lambos and CT. #RIP

Ryan Hunter-Reay hired as replacement for Conor Daly at Ed Carpenter Racing

By Jun 8, 2023, 9:05 AM EDT
Ryan Hunter-Reay Carpenter
Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
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Ryan Hunter-Reay was named to replace Conor Daly in Ed Carpenter Racing’s No. 20 Dallara-Chevrolet, starting in the NTT IndyCar Series event next week at Road America.

Hunter-Reay is the 2012 series champion and 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner. He finished 11th for Dreyer & Reinbold last month in the 107th Indy 500, his first start since the 2021 season finale. He drove full time for Andretti Autosport from 2010-21.

“We need to improve our competitiveness and I wanted to add a fresh perspective from a driver like Ryan who has a massive amount of experience and success as well as a reputation as a team leader. I am excited to welcome Ryan to the team,” team owner Ed Carpenter said in a team release. “We have worked together in the past as teammates and he tested for ECR at Barber Motorsports Park in October 2021, where he made an immediate impact as we were able to qualify one of our cars on the pole following that test. I am confident that his experience and technical abilities will be an asset to ECR as we move forward toward our goals as a team.”

Hunter-Reay has 18 IndyCar victories, most recently in 2018. He also is a winner in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, having been a part of winning entries in the 2020 Twelve Hours of Sebring and 2018 Petit Le Mans. Last year, he was an endurance driver for Cadillac Racing while being on standby for Chip Ganassi Racing.

He replaces Daly, whose departure was announced a day earlier in what the driver and team said was a mutual decision.

“I was surprised when I got the call from Ed,” Hunter-Reay said in a team release. “He described how frustrated he was that his team has not been able to realize its potential despite their efforts, investments, as well as technical and personnel changes over the past few years and asked for my help. Ed and I are very close friends and have been for a long time. I’ve worked with the team in the past and they are a very talented group with high expectations and a committed partner in BITNILE.COM.

“This will certainly be a challenge for me as well. It’s a tough situation jumping in a car in the middle of the season without any testing in what I believe to be the most competitive series in the world. Certainly, part of my motivation in saying ‘yes’ to Ed is the great challenge ahead. The last time I turned right driving an NTT IndyCar Series car was in October of 2021 with this team at Barber. However, I remain very confident in both my driving and technical abilities and believe by working with the talented people at ECR and Team Chevy, while representing BITNILE.COM, we will make progress. I am going to do everything I can do to help the team achieve its long-term objectives.”

Said Milton “Todd” Ault, the chairman of sponsor BitNile.com: “It is great for BitNile.com to be aligned with an Indy 500 Winner and an NTT IndyCar Series champion. I have followed Ryan’s career for years and I am confident he will challenge the entire ECR team to perform at higher levels. I wish everyone luck at Road America.”