Ken MacIsaac continues his ‘KenZone’ series with a profile of Pete Miller from Kennetcook, Nova Scotia. Miller has been a fixture on the regional stock car racing circuit since 1992, running hobby stock, pro stock, and most recently sportsman cars. In this exclusive interview, Ken and Pete discuss Pete’s racing history as well as what 2017 is looking like. The article concludes with a great Pete Miller photo gallery… KM – “Tell me how you got interested in racing?” PM – “I can barely remember going to Atlantic Speedway, but I guess it was after that. Traveling with uncle Stan and Roger (Miller) is when I really got interested. I used to go to the tracks with them every week. Onslow and Riverside.” KM – “When Scotia opened in ’88, Roger, Stan and your brother Wayne were all there. Did you have a car back then too?” PM – “No. I wasn’t old enough to have my own car, so I just helped Wayne.” KM – “When did you start driving?” PM – “In ’92. In fact, the very first night I raced, I won my heat which qualified me for the ‘F’ feature. There so many cars back then, they ran several features. Anyway, I won that ‘F’ feature that night too.” KM – “You were hooked from that moment.” PM – “In ’93 we built the black Hobby stock car. Me, Wayne and Stan. I did well running Hobby stock, won the championship in ’98, finished 2nd in ’97. In ’98 we changed the look of the car. Painted it white, with a green stripe. We were trying to make it look like the Russell White Lumber cars that Frank Fraser and Cy drove in the 70’s.” KM – “I remember back in ’99 when you ran Sportsman for the first time. You made that transition pretty easy.” PM – “Stan, Wayne and I built that car too. Ground up. I gave Wayne my Hobby car. He ran that at Scotia. But the last race of the year, I wanted to race in the Maritime 6 Cylinder Championship at Scotia. So Wayne drove the Sportsman at Moosehead, and I raced his Hobby car at Scotia.” KM – “You won that championship, didn’t you?” PM – “I did”. KM – “I remember you doing fairly well with the Sportsman back then. You ran some Sportsman Tour races around the Maritimes too”. PM – “We did alright. That car was around for awhile after that. It was DJ Casey’s last Sportsman car. KM – “Completely different look for you in 2001?” PM – “We upgraded the body, but it was the same car. Did well that year too. Finished 2nd to Phil Barkhouse in points.” KM – “There was a period around this time where you didn’t race for a few years?” PM – “I hurt my back at work, and couldn’t race. I had to give it up for a few years. That was late ’01? Roger drove the car the next year. We had all the sponsors and the money, so we owed it to them to race the following year.” KM – “I remember your brother Wayne running the car in 2003?” PM – “Yes, we sold it after that to Robert Hage. He had Leonard Boutilier in the car at Scotia for a few years after that.” KM – “So when you got back into racing, it was 2008. But in a Pro Stock?” PM – “That was Dave Potter’s car. I worked for ACL at the time, who were a big construction outfit. They bought all Dave’s gear, car, trailer, everything. They paid the shot”. KM – “Did Wayne do any of the driving back then?” PM – “Just at Shediac. It was his treat. He worked on the car all year, so he got to run the fall race at Shediac. But there was one race there back in 2013, where Wayne ran all the practice and the heats. But when it came time for the feature, he bailed, so I got dumped into driving” KM – “Now in 2014, you went back to Sportsman racing?” PM – “Our sponsor ACL was bought out by Dexter’s. So the money stopped. I still have the Pro Stock, but decided to go back to running a Sportsman.” KM – “Tell me about that car?” PM – “That was Craig Chisolm’s 91 car. It was actually Stacey Clement’s ‘Olands Export’ Sportsman from years ago.So it’s been around awhile. It’s the same car I have now.” KM – “You had a bad wreck at Scotia in 2014?” PM – “I flipped. It looked worse than it was. We went back the next week with different colors, different body panels, and just painted it red to finish the year.” KM – “In 2015, your brother Wayne got back to driving” PM – “We bought Byron Bartlett’s Sportsman and ran two cars that year. That was the start of Miller Bros. Racing. Last winter, we stripped both cars and redid them both.” KM – “So tell me about your championship season at Scotia?” PM – “It was a great year. Had 1 win, 6-second place finishes and a third. Nice to get a Sportsman championship.” KM – “The Sydney track reopened in 2014, and I was really hoping you’d have made a trip or two to race?” PM – “I wanted to. But just didn’t have the money in our budget”. KM – “What’s 2017 looking like for you?” PM – “Plans are still up in the air. We won’t be running fulltime at Scotia. Probably just the three 50 lappers and the 100 lapper. Will likely do the 4 Napa Sportsman races at Riverside too. KM – “That’s a good schedule. Any races in New Brunswick?” PM – “Depending on Petty’s rules, we’ll run some there. Also may do the 3 big Sportsman races at Speedway 660.” KM – “You’ve run Petty before, do you think their rules may change?” PM – “It’ll depend on whether or not they switch to slicks for the Sportsman. If they don’t, then we’ll run some races there.” KM – “You have a good crew and sponsors. Want to mention them?” PM – “For sure. Uncle Stan, my brother Wayne, Jason Halverson, Neil Miller, Colby Crossman, Alex Kocken, Justin White, Dewayne White and Ron Withrow. Have great sponsors….Superior Power Products, DAC Industrial Engines, Shore Cycle, AJK N.S. Safety Alliance, Jeff Miller Auto Parts, Double K Lawn and Garden, and Phil-Ko Glass and Plastics. KM – “All the best this season Pete. Good luck” PM – “Thank you” Photo Gallery – click photo to enlarge or view slideshow
