Opening a thread for Miller. Schedule: http://www.grand-am.com/assets/2010MillerOfficialSched.pdf We will return with all three cars at Miller Drivers: Randy Smalley Owen Trinkler Sarah Cattaneo VJ Mirzayan BJ Zacharias Dicky Riegel We have been on the pole at Miller twice and have run up front on the 'full' course. This year we will run the 'outer loop' course which should be more favorable to the Mini. We are coming off back to back wins at New Jersey and Trois Rivieres and are shooting for three in a row. Salt Lake is a really great facility. Come out if you can. Randy TELEVISED : 9/18, 9:00 PM ET, SPEED
Can we say "Three Peat"? Good luck Randy, a strong finish to the season and some nervous competition for next year:yesnod:
Seems like they ran Miller last year so that the race ended in the dark...or is my memory playing tricks on me again?
That is correct . . . last year it finished in the dark. The race is starting earlier this year but it will still end at around dusk. The track has NO lights and NO reference points . . . in the dark it almost impossible to race on. rrr: rrr: This year should be better. Randy
Miller prerace The transporter is enroute to Miller. It left yesterday. All three cars are prepped, dyno'ed and ready to race. Rumor has it that representatives of MINIUSA will be there, rooting the team onto a 'three-peat'. We will be running the outer loop this year which should be an improvement for the MINI. It makes Miller a momentum track. Some other cars will benefit too so we will see how it goes. All the action takes place on Saturday. Qualifying is in the morning and we race late in the afternoon after the finish of the Rolex Race. It will be a great day of racing. Hope to see you there. Randy
RSR Motorsports Hopes for Three-peat at Miller TOOELE, Utah--After winning the previous two Street Tuner races in the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series, RSR Motorsports doesn't have anything to prove heading into this weekend's season finale at Miller Motorsports Park. Still, the team would like to end the season with three MINI Cooper S wins in a row. RSR Motorsports owner Randall Smalley is cautiously optimistic. "I think we could pull it off, but I don't want to jinx it!" he jokes. On a serious note, he adds, "We could do really well at Miller, but it always takes a little luck. It was the great pit strategy that really won it for us at New Jersey and Trois-Rivieres." That great pit strategy was paired with superb driving and a reliable No. 198 MINI Cooper S that performed flawlessly from green to checkered flag. Smalley and Trinkler were the victorious co-drivers at New Jersey Motorsports Park and Trois-Rivieres, but the driver line-up is changing for the season finale. RSR Motorsports will have three MINI Cooper S entries at Miller. Sarah Cattaneo will join Trinkler in the defending No. 198 MINI. "Sarah has done great in qualifying and her stints, especially considering it's her first full season in the series," says Trinkler, who put RSR Motorsports on the pole at Miller in 2008. "I'm excited to see what she can do in her opening stint." For Cattaneo, who normally co-drives with VJ Mirzayan in the No. 197 entry, the season finale at Miller represents the culmination of a year of growth. "Working with VJ and Owen this season has been great. I've grown tremendously as a driver because of those two. I can't thank them enough for that. We're getting better finishes, the cars have been great and we're progressing," she says. Mirzayan will co-drive the No. 197 RSR Motorsports MINI Cooper S with Dicky Riegel, who has driven select rounds with the team this year. Mirzayan is quick to note how the team has developed since the season opener at Daytona International Speedway. "We saw improvement with each race as the season went on, and I'm hoping this last race will be our best so far," says Mirzayan. "I want to thank our team owner Randall Smalley and the crew for all they've done, and I've really enjoyed driving with Sarah this year. Whatever our results at Miller might be, we're finishing on a high note." Smalley will co-drive with longtime RSR Motorsports driver BJ Zacharias in the No. 196 MINI Cooper S. This is the first time the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series has run the outer course, and the different layout presents a new opportunity for the MINIs. "The outer course makes it a momentum course," Smalley notes. "I think the race could be a replay of Trois-Rivieres, where we battled with the leaders at the end."
Trinkler Looks for Three in a Row in Utah and Lee Carpentier Joins Matt Connolly Motorsports in GTO-R Sep 09, 2010 – P1 Groupe, the premiere motorsports management company, is ending the GRAND-AM Series season with a bang on September 10-11, 2010 at the Miller Motorsports Park as the company has clients in all levels of both the Continental Tire Challenge and Rolex Series competing this weekend. Fan favorite, Owen Trinkler, who has won two races in a row is looking for a trifecta this weekend and will be racing with team owner Randy Smalley in the Continental Tire Challenge Series ST Class in his RSR Mini Cooper S. Lee Carpentier and Mike Sweeney join Matt Connolly Motorsports and will be racing in the GTO-R, a car which has won the most races in GRAND-AM History. This will also mark the final race of the GTO-R in Grand Am competition, so the team and driving tandem are looking to end on a strong note. “We are attempting to go three for three this weekend,” said Owen Trinkler. “With a victory, we will have the momentum going into the 2011 season few teams can match. The Mini Cooper S is the ultimate GRAND-AM car and are already preparing the lineup of drivers as we will again campaign the Mini throughout 2011 as well.” This is his second full season with RSR Motorsports in the Mini Cooper. In 2009 Trinkler qualified in Pole Position on two occasions and had a season-best finish of 4th place at Barber Motorsports Park while leading laps in a number of races for his RSR Motorsports team in the Mini Cooper S race car. This is in addition to the two pole positions he earned for the same team in the 2008 racing season, but shadows in comparison to his many racing accomplishments. Lee Carpentier joins Matt Connolly Motorsports in the Pontiac GTO-R in the GT class of the Rolex Series through the work of P1 Groupe. For Carpentier racing in the GTO-R is a coveted one, as he makes his GRAND AM debut. The Miller Motorsports Park round will mark the completion of the 2010 season in both the Continental Tire Challenge Series and Rolex Sportscar Series. It will be attracting racing fans from across the world to cheer Trinkler, Sweeney and Carpentier to victory.
RSR qualifying results: P4 - 198 - Cattaneo / Trinkler P14 - 196 - Zacharias P19 - 197 - Mirzayan / Riegel
I thought this race was supposed to start earlier but according to live timing it's just about to get underway. Here's hoping it ends before the light fades. Go RSR!
2nd, 13th and 14th, I'd say a pretty good showing! That APR GTI looked to be unbeatable. Wonder what happened with Carbonell?, I hope it's not similar to last race's incident. Hard to tell from grand-am site. Good job guys!!