Years ago I had the opportunity to be interviewed by not only a good friend, but also a professional writer. Even though this interview is dated, it gives people a good idea of how I think and what goals I have always had towards racing and life. I hope you enjoy it. See you at the track!

- Marc Miller

One on One with Marc Miller by Tim Blaney (Editor, SuperKart Illustrated Magazine)

Marc Miller has long been known as a top driving talent in the Midwest who had some early shots at Formula cars before hitting the well-known funding roadblock. Undeterred, Miller has kept working at making a career of racing. While others may have tossed it in, Miller stuck with it, working hard at developing contacts and his racing promotions business.

Miller looks at racing from the business perspective and realizes that it is not just a heavy right foot that will get him into a car. He knows he needs to find sponsors and most importantly, keep them happy for his career to be a success. Besides being a top driver, Miller is at the top of the heap in making sure that his sponsors get a good return on this investment in his race program. We sat down with Marc and talked about his career from the early days on the dirt ovals of Virginia, to his recent CASCAR test at Mosport Park in Canada.

How did you get started in racing?
I got started when I was 10 years old. I was living in Rocky Mount, VA, a small town in Southwest VA, and I had a neighbor kid who lived down the street from me drive by with a kart on the back of a trailer. My Dad and I were sitting outside and he said, 'why don't you go down and check that out?' I really think he was more interested than I was to be honest. I really wasn't a huge race fan yet, only watching a few races with him, until I learned more about it. I went down and introduced myself to the family that had the kart and the very next weekend my father and I were off to the racetrack to go watch. It kind of developed from there. The following weekend my Dad rented a ride for me and I loved it. I came in after the first weekend, I had just turned 11, and I looked at my Dad and said, 'This is what I want to do for a living.' From then on I have progressed that way, never losing site of the fact that this is what I want to do with my life. That experience scarred me for life <laughs>, but in a good way.

Many racers can trace their desire to race by watching some of the greats like Mears or Senna on TV. You seem to have been bitten by a trip to the track.
Yeah, I wasn't a big race fan before. There's this basic idea when you're a race fan, of any sport really, like baseball or football, that you look at a sport and their heroes and say, 'Wow, I want to be like that person.' For me, I looked at racing and never seemed to feel that way. I seemed to have more respect for a lot of the drivers. I think most people look at drivers and see what they do and then want to race. I didn't know I wanted to race until I experienced it for myself. When I sat in a kart for the first time, drove it and raced, the feeling I got is what turned me on to the sport. It wasn't an admiration for the sport or hero as much as the gut feeling, where you just know 'this is it'. Driving that first time is where I got the feeling. I needed to keep racing or I would forget that feeling. There is a constant desire to be in a racecar often, any type of car to continue to get the feeling. The desire is always there.

You're best known in the racing community as a road racer, but didn't you start running dirt ovals?
I did start at a dirt track oval. In Virginia, there weren't many road courses. There are a few sportscar courses and even fewer sprint kart tracks. I was also limited geographically to what style of racing was popular in my area. When I was growing up in Virginia, oval track racing was the thing to do. I started on dirt for the first few years, then when I was 13 or 14, we moved to stock car racing on pavement because that was very popular where we were. I have always felt that racing is racing. I liked to experience those different types of cars and tracks. The feeling you get in a wheel-to-wheel battle or pushing anything to the limit or a bit beyond is what attracted me to this sport. So, I really had no problems with going dirt tracking, or pavement racing or road racing because I wanted to experience and learn everything I could.

When did you make the switch to road racing and sprint tracks with karts?
That happened after a few years of stock car racing. I had just turned 16 and my family decided to relocate back to Michigan, where I was born. We moved to Southwest Michigan and I must admit I wasn't too happy about the decision. I was just getting into the stock car circles I was really starting to be accepted. I was the youngest driver at the track and I was excited about moving up to the next step, Late Model. I really wanted to do that and then we moved. My father and I made a trip to Michigan before we moved to try and scout out the racing scene. We drove around to scout out the racing scene and I realized that there is racing everywhere. Michigan actually had a little bit of everything from ASA to Midgets to road racing all close by. I volunteered with a very good USAC and ARCA Midget team and learned a lot about chassis set-up and racecar dynamics. I still think that experience has really helped me along the way. After a year of working with this team and not racing, my father and I decided that I needed to get back into it, but there were no oval kart tracks around. So, we went 4-cycle sprint racing. We hooked up with a local kart shop about an hour away from Grand Rapids, bought the equipment I needed and went racing. Half the season had already been run but we ran the remainder of the races. I think we won the first time out too so that certainly put the fire back into me. I went after a WKA National Championship the following year based on that early success.

You spent time running 4-cycle sprints, and then you went into kart road racing.
Absolutely. We searched for sponsorship and we campaigned a full season on the WKA Gold Cup Tour, and Regions 6 and 7, so I was racing a lot the first year. I ended up winning those championships, Region 7 and the National Championship and we had to decide what the next step was. I wanted to go car racing eventually, so we looked at what would be the most logical next step with our budget. I wanted to move up the formula car ladder, so it made sense for me to run on the bigger car tracks. I felt I had already accomplished 4-cycle racing where being smooth and being good with chassis tuning is important, so it was time to move into a level of karting that was faster. The most competitive class in road racing at the time was "Yamaha Sprint". There were 50-100 racers that raced in this class at each event. I was sold. So we did the research, found out what tracks to run, put a schedule together and found sponsors. We bought two Yamaha motors, a new sprint enduro chassis and we went road racing. We didn't know anything about it and we learned as we went. That year, from the very first race we were winning. I fell in love with road racing. It rewarded not only the driver with a good chassis set-up, but also a patient and smart driver. You had to know what to do over a period of 30 minutes, not just a five or eight-lap sprint race. You had to think a little bit more I found. I seemed to really excel when there was strategy involved in the racing. That year I think we won 11 or 12 straight races and all three championships we raced in.

That is one thing that has marked your racing, for you the fun of the race is the strategy of the race. At what point did you begin to develop the race craft you needed to run fast and smart?
I think that is something that has always been there. I don't remember having ever been an impatient driver. Maybe when I was younger, very early on when I was learning I had been a little too aggressive at times, but that is normal. I learned from those experiences but I've always been a very relaxed and patient driver. I'm aggressive in overtaking, but I have always seemed to know when to make a move and when not to make a move. It's rare that I make a stupid move on the racetrack. It is something that has been very good for me. I have rarely been involved in incidents and a lot of that comes from the fact that I am just extremely lucky so far <grins>. I just try to not force something that is not there. That tends to keep you out of trouble.

Is it also a matter of having taken lessons learned on the oval and applying them to the road courses?
It may have been. That style of racing, (dirt or pavement oval) you have to be very smooth. Not always is the fastest guy going to win. If you do try to force an issue, you are going to get caught out. For me, when I ran dirt, there wasn't a 40-kart plus field like they have now. I ran against the same guys every weekend. I think I really noticed when I got out of 4-cycle racing and into the faster classes that the effects of the draft and paying attention to how other guys were handling themselves on the track was important. I have always been a quick learner when I got into a racecar, whether it be a 4-cycle speedway kart, a 250cc superkart or a touring sedan. I have driven nearly every type of kart there is and have always been quick for getting the feel of the car and getting up to speed. Thankfully it comes very naturally to me.

You spent a couple years in Canada racing Formula Fords. How did the karting experience translate into cars?
It translated nicely I thought. When I went from road racing karts into cars in Canada, I started in a Formula 1200, which is essentially a Formula Vee. They were under-powered formula cars and weren't overwhelmingly technical. So a lot of the cars in the 30-car field were very close, sometimes over half the field has pretty much the same type of racecar. The only thing I needed to get used to was the fact that there was just more around you. Cars are obviously longer, wider and have suspension travel compared to a kart so it takes longer to feel what the car is doing. Going from a kart where you are going 110 mph into a turn and you don't really need to lift because the chassis reacts and sets immediately. In a car, everything is more exaggerated. It takes longer to set the car, takes longer to get it up to speed and longer to stop it.

You had some success in the formula cars immediately?
Absolutely. Right out of the box I won my first race. In my first year in the F1200 we won a bunch of races and did really well, and that moved us into Formula Ford. I was offered tests and opportunities to drive for some very good teams but in nearly every formula car program you need to bring something in the form of funding. With some help from some very good friends, I was able to put together ways to help fund a part-time effort.

Then you ran into funding problems, you headed back to karts in shifter karts?
Yes, thanks for reminding me <laughs>. We were able to get a few races in before running out of funding. I was able to get three races in, winning one of them in the Formula Ford. I started putting together sponsorship for the following year and we were VERY close to having a season-long Formula Ford program together and that fell through at the last minute. I was really down and out and was approached by a long-time friend that had started a karting publication. He offered up a program to run a full season in shifterkarts. It was a very last minute deal. The top level of shifterkart racing is a pro sport so I jumped in with both feet and we put a rookie effort together for the magazine and I hate to admit it, but it was absolutely the worst year of racing I've had in my life. It was horrible for me as a driver. Nothing went right. I had one or two good races all year and I don't think <pauses>. . a lot of factors contributed to the fact that it just wasn't right. I still don't know how I could have gone back and made it any better from my standpoint. That season certainly taught me a lot about humility. <pauses again> In the past I had always done a lot of research prior to the season or was able to fit in with an established team. This was a rookie effort all the way through, from driver to preparation and it showed. No level of talent is going to push you through so many other levels of not knowing what to do. It was a very frustrating year for me and it really hit me hard mentally.

Yet, you took those lessons and applied them to the future.
Well you absolutely HAVE to. That experience was rough, but I DID learn from it. I learned a lot that year in fact, even though I don't ever want to experience it again. <laughs> One of the negatives of a bad season though is that all of your accomplishments leading up to that moment are nearly forgotten. One bad season on a national level and everything you have done in the past doesn't mean squat. It was very difficult for me to turn that around. That was my reasoning behind putting my own program together the following year and doing it my way. I also did the type of racing I knew was going to be good for me in the long run. That was my goal was to come back and have people realize that that one bad year was a fluke. I am better than that one season and needed to prove it to myself just as much as everyone else. I was able to put together a very successful year last year and from that, I had the opportunity to meet many people that want to help me back into car racing.

One of the areas you excel is putting the whole package together. There are plenty of guys who can put a package together and get sponsors. But you seem to do a better job of making sure your sponsors get their money's worth. Last year even though kart road racing in general doesn't get a lot of ink, there was a lot of action because of your efforts. How did that skill evolve?
That skill just comes from lots of work. You know, that is one of the things that people have noticed when they meet me that seem to stick in their minds. The level of dedication you have to have when you don't have a lot of money is constant. It FORCES you to be very resourceful. So, when I said that the first time I drove a kart I knew I wanted to race for a living, I meant it. Everything I did up to where I am now has been to be a better racecar driver. Part of that has been learning the business aspects of the sport. Learning how to carry yourself, learning to write your own press releases. I went to college for public relations and marketing to learn to do these things for myself. I have applied it every year. When you say I have gotten exposure for my type of racing, it has been all legwork. Anyone can do it - ANYONE. But very few choose to do it. To be honest though, if I were in a position, whether it through family money or luck to have funding available to me, I probably would have not worked so hard doing that legwork. I felt though, that I have to if I wanted to be a professional racer and I really am glad I made that decision. I think I am certainly better for it. That segment of the sport (shifterkart road racing) doesn't get a lot of exposure, but I made sure it did because it deserves it. So everyone involved got some exposure, not just me.

A lot of articles to the contrary, do you still think young drivers believe all they have to do is be fast in the car and doors will open for them? Do they still not grasp that the major part of a racer's job is marketing?
I think that a lot of kids are just starting to get it. With the popularity of the sport continually growing, many people are starting to catch onto that. Drivers that DO make it quickly realize that they are in the racecar for an hour and out of the car 23 hours in a day. In those 23 hours, they sleep eight and communicate with people, whether they be the team, sponsors or race fans the rest. To be a racer, you have to be talented in the car, that is a given. But you must also be a talented communicator and good with sponsors and giving feedback to your team. They are ALL key points. In the past, you could get a good ride on ability. Now, with motorsports becoming such a strong business, you have to bring a powerful resume'. If you can't learn all the aspects, you may not be around very long especially when companies are paying millions of dollars for the deal.

And because of the dollars involved, do you think it is also a less forgiving environment? Either you win or you're gone.
Right. It is a tougher environment especially out of the car. For most drivers, being in the car is the easy part. Getting up to speed isn't the problem. The things that have pushed my career the most hasn't just been speed, it's the other things. Getting along with the crew and engineers and giving good feedback to make the car faster are crucial. You can be a second off the first session, but if you are able to give the team information to make the car a second faster, then that is better in some ways than getting in the car and being on pace. If you can work with the crew to make the car suit you as a driver, it's even more valuable because the next track you go to the set-up may be completely wrong and if you can't help them get a good set-up, you're not going to go any faster. But going back to your question, on the same level, if you are available to get out of the car and wear many hats, from interacting with kids, corporate sponsors or explain to the media how you got where you are, what is your actual worth as a professional race driver?

On any given weekend, you can see people on TV who you raced against as a kid yet they made it. Is it frustrating or do you say 'this is where I am and that is where I am trying to get to'?
You know, there are times when I have said, 'Man, why am I not there? Why not me?' Then I look back at what I HAVE accomplished with the resources I had available to me and I don't think I would trade the way I have done it for anything. I have gotten to this point my own way and it's the only way I can do it. I can't live in my car. I can't go to Europe and live on peanuts. I am not made or wired that way and some are. Memo Gidley is a good example. I really respect guys like him that make it the way he did. If you ask me, he HAS made it, ChampCar ride or not. He is a professional driver and did it on desire, and talent in AND out of the car. I too have something to offer, and I have gone about working my way into the profession in a different way. I know I need to cultivate MY talents to be the most well rounded professional driver I can be. It used to really bug me to see guys I had been faster than in formula fords and karts running in pro series now, but at the same time they are there because they deserve to be there too. I would hate to think that me if I were racing in Atlantics or Busch Grand National right now, someone would say 'He's only there because . . . this . . . or that!' Regardless of why you are there, you still have to perform and for the most part, you deserve to be there.

You did some CASCAR testing. How was that?
It went very well. I received an offer to test from someone I had raced formula cars against in the past who now owns a CASCAR team (Canadian Assoc. for Stock Car Auto Racing). I got a recommendation by a good friend that I raced for in my first year of formula cars it all started from that. Any time I get the chance to drive something new I am going to jump at it. Essentially the CASCAR is a Busch Grand National car; it has similar weight and HP. I have had two tests in the car and it looks like a program is going together for next year to campaign in all the road courses. I think the team was impressed as they have asked me to run the car a few more times this year already.

How much of an adjustment is it to go from a formula car to a stock car?
It was a big adjustment, but I knew that going in. In a big sedan, you have a lot of weight, a lot of HP and usually a lot of brakes. You have to realize you can't just quickly set the car like in formula fords into a fast corner, but rather get ALL the weight transferred to be able to make the turn and the car pointed. You really need to get the car slowed and settled before getting back on the power. You aren't going to carry as much mid-corner speed as you do in a formula car. For me, it was easy to adjust to because I hadn't been in a car for a while and I have always had the ability to adapt quickly. I used the first session to learn the car, learn the balance and how the car reacts to inputs. I even tried to induce a few problems as to test some of the limits. <grins> By the second session, there were no surprises and I knew what the car was capable of. We got down into some very competitive times in our second test on old tires so I am positive I can get into a heavier car and learn what I need to do to get comfortable.

You have a Formula Ford test coming up also. Lessons you learned from the CASCAR that you could apply?
I think so. Every time I come into a new situation I make a point to establish a relationship with the team, at the very least to have them know that they can trust me when it comes to feedback. The first session usually is the same no matter what I am driving. I will feel out the car, try to learn as much as I can and maybe put in a couple quick laps. The next session I am usually comfortable enough to really start pushing. That is how I have always approached it and it seems to work well for me. Engineers and mechanics can appreciate it because they are not going to get some kid jumping into the car and trying to impress everyone, ultimately wrecking the car, and not getting any more laps the rest of the day. Going into the test, I feel real comfortable with what I can do in a car. The biggest thing is letting them know what to do to make me comfortable in THAT car.

If I were to walk through the paddock and ask three people what their opinion of Marc Miller is, what would they say?
<laughs> Psycho-analysis time is it? I think most would know me as very personable and easy to get along with. You may hear that I am "extremely quick" and "get up to speed despite lack of experience". What I want to hear most is that I am professional and deserve to be in a professional series.