Former Roush Drivers Announce Return To Trans Am
Mike Miller is no stranger to the racing world or the SCCA. He has raced various cars over the past 35 years. In 1982, after making his way through several different racing categories, he debuted in SCCA Super-Vee open-wheel racing with the guidance of legendary racer, Dan Gurney.
From ’82-’86, Miller honed his driving and component-development skills with several teams. He finished third in Super-Vee behind Michael Andretti and Ed Pimm. Miller’s resume includes driving in Formula Atlantic, Cam Am, Trans Am, and even NASCAR Winston Cup. He currently serves as CEO of Orchid Orthopedic Solutions and owns Trick Titanium, a manufacturer of Titanium engine valves and other Ti components along with Titanium Bellhousing used in Top Fuel dragsters all over the world.
Most recently, Miller drove for Stealth Racing in the Grand Am Series with co-driver Pete Halsmer. In hopes of harnessing that same winning spirit, the two enjoyed in Trans Am in the late 1980’s driving for legendary owner Jack Roush, Miller and Halsmer will drive in the new Trans Am TA2 category backed by a list of impressive corporate partners. In one season, Halsmer finished second in the drivers’ championship while Miller was driving to rookie-of-the-year honors. The pair gave Roush another manufacturer’s championship. The duo hopes to bring their years of experience and Miller Racing’s professional equipment to another championship season. “I am excited to jump in and race once again with Pete as a teammate and test driver. I know Pete will push us to peak performance" said Mike Miller. Halsmer mirrors Miller’s enthusiasm and knowledge of the sport.
Pete Halsmer has raced in every major road race series in the U.S. Pete has competed and won Super Vee, Trans-Am, Indy Cars, IMSA GTP cars and Grand Am. Recently, Pete was with HART (Honda of America’s in-house engineering road racing team based in Ohio) and drove Hart’s World Challenge NSX with 4 top 5 finishes, from ’99 – ’04. He became a driver/advisor for the Motorola Cup Compact Class Team (CAK), achieving four wins, Team and Manufacturer’s titles, 2nd in Driver’s title. He won year-end awards for the most laps led and fastest race laps. In 2001, he finishes 2nd overall Driver’s title in Grand Am CAK class, with 4 wins. He then had a development year (2002) for Acura RSX in ST-1 class, finished 15th overall, 2 wins; then in 2003 won 2nd overall with 2 wins.
Miller Racing will enter two new 2012 TA2 Camaros in the Tran-Am series. Miller has paired with Katech Inc. and Howe Racing to build the cars and power plants. “These two companies embody SCCA racing. They are the very best at what they do. I feel confident that we’ve built winning cars," Miller said with enthusiasm.
Miller Racing is proud to have worked closely with Katech Inc. (Fritz Kayl, Richard Johnson, and Steven Chue) to bring a new LS3-based TA2 Engine to the series. In cooperation with SCCA, Miller Racing, and Katech have developed the new LS3 engine for TA2 in order to update the cars to current Chevrolet components. Engines produced to the new TA2 specification can be purchased directly from Katech Engineering.