MILLER BEATS SAND AND COMPETITION TO WIN SOUTHERN SRINTS OPENER
PUNTA GORDA, FL (February 19, 2022) — Daniel Miller beat out a stout field and track conditions to win the BG Products Southern Sprint Car Shootout Series season opener Saturday night at 4-17 Speedway. It was Miller’s first victory in SSSS competition since June 20, 2020.
Miller, who started from the pole position after a blind draw, lead wire-to wire to capture the 40-lap feature in convincing fashion. The only serious threat to Miller’s lead occurred late in the race when Scott Adema challenged him on a double-file restart. Miller fended off Adema to and never looked back.
Throughout most of the race, sand was being kicked up on the track due to the whirlwind the wings were producing, most notably in turns two and four. The track conditions made most of the cars race sideways throughout the biggest part of the race, including Miller himself.
The race saw several early favorites exit early due to mechanical woes including Troy DeCaire and Davey Hamilton Jr.
“There was sand everywhere tonight” stated Miller in victory lane. “For some reason this track gets very dirty with sand. Starting up front tonight definitely helped me, but as good as the car felt, I feel like we could have put it up front no matter where we would have started. We never really had any close calls other than getting into the sand in turn one. When that would happen, the car would step out. Other than that, it was a clean race for us. I didn’t know if anyone was close, but I was going as hard as I could in case someone was on my bumper.”
With Millers feature win, and heat race win, he should be the current point leader. “We’re gonna try and run for the championship this year with Doug Kinney and PCS Racing. We got another car being built so if we have problems, we’ll have a back-up. This is definitely a good start to the season for us”. Concluded Miller.
Southern Sprint Car Series
4-17 Speedway
Punta Gorda, Florida
Saturday, February 19, 2022
1. 5-Daniel Miller
2. 67-Scott Adema
3. 26-Aaron Pierce
4. 88A-Sport Allen
5. 88-LJ Grimm
6. 55-Tommy Nichols
7. 25-Bruce Brantley
8. 22X-Steven Hollinger
9. 32-Bo Hartley
10. 14-Davey Hamilton Jr.
11. 36-Troy DeCaire
12. 92-Ryan Adema
13. 83-Skip Ferniac