K&N's Michael Miller Hitting His Stride in NHRA Super Comp With Back to Back Finals
- 1 Aug 2011
Miller, of Santa Fe, New Mexico recently took out some fellow serious competitors to make his way to the final of Super Comp in the Jegs All-Stars event, where he fell to K&N's Tommy Phillips. It was really at this event where he felt like things were really starting to gel for him in his new TNT dragster and doesn't seem to be looking back. During the 32nd annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway, Miller entered both his 1927-T Roadster Super Gas car and his TNT Super Comp Dragster, both Ford powered. "You know Denver is a very unique race," he said. "I have to spend a day, day and half of work to change my cars over to race there. From the torque converters, to timing, jets and even computer programming." Where he went out in the early rounds of Super Gas, he more than made up for it by taking his dragster to the championship round on Sunday. "Yeah, I went out in second round of Super Gas," confessed Miller. "He didn't really leave me any room when he was .001 on the tree." But over in Super Comp, Miller made his way past Adam Chioda in round two which gave him the scheduled bye for round three and on to his next round match up with Tim Parker. Although Parker had the starting line advantage, Miller was able to outdrive him at the stripe and push Parker deeper under the index and on to the quarter-finals. "I had to race a guy named Mitch Mustard, who is a local guy," Miller pointed out. "He races at Bandimere every weekend and he's good. I kinda thought if I won that round, I could win the race. He's just one of those guys that is dialed and he's going to go fifty [9.50 adjusted index for Bandimere]. Just a matter of trying to manipulate that situation." Miller once again showed his strong finish line driving skills and even though he was behind at the hit, he knew just the right time to let Mustard have the stripe and stay on the better side of a double breakout. Even though it was quite hot for the Denver race, with 93 degrees and an adjusted altitude of nearly 10,000 feet, Miller kept his cool in the semi-finals and only took the amount of margin he needed at the finish line [.009] to send Jacky King packing and himself into the championship round where he would meet up with Dave Crawford. Miller just didn't have the light he was looking for in the final and gave Crawford the window he needed to win his very first NHRA National Event, in his first final round. "It was just his day," Miller said of his runner-up to Crawford. "When a guy takes out [Gary] Stinnett in the first round, then Brad Plourd and me all in one day, he deserves the win. I am just really happy with the way this new dragster combination is working now, it was great getting into the final." Miller had lots of thanks to give to his mom and dad, his wife Timberly, his brother John and to the folks at K&N Engineering. "I have had a longtime relationship with the K&N folks," he noted. "Steve Williams, Bob Harris, [pauses] they just get it and totally understand racing. K&N goes above and beyond what you could ever ask a racing type company to do. I don't know of any other company that offers contingency for three products. That's huge for the sportsman racers. K&N's support of racing is second to none." Miller also pointed out that he was excited to add K&N composite scoops to both of his cars for 2011. The scoops include the specially designed K&N race high performance air filters, which he added the Pro Stock style to his 1923 T Roadster and the 2nd Generation Dragster scoop to his Super Comp entry. Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world. |
