Indy Al Miller Crashes Heading into Series’ Penultimate Round

Platinum points leader Indy Al Miller crashed heavily during testing for this weekend’s penultimate round of the Blue Marble Radical Cup North America at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

Miller ran wide on the exit of Turn 1, collecting the tire wall at high speed. He was one of a number drivers to overstep the limit during extensive six sessions of testing and practice leading up to tomorrow’s qualifying session.

With a 1:22.519 lap time, Miller had set the pace during Friday morning’s final test session, but it was former ALMS champ Jon Field who led the way in Official Practice 1 with a 1:20.644, from Louis Schriber, Judd Miller and Jim Booth.

Schriber pipped Field in Practice 2 with a 1:21.927, but the afternoon sun slowed the times.

Interestingly Esses Racing’s Judd Miller is still deciding whether he’ll race his new SR10 or his more familiar SR8.

The indecision is somewhat surprising given his driver coach, Riley Dickinson, apparently broke into the 1:18s while piloting the SR10 during the promoter tests.

Also of note Clint Field is racing this weekend for the first time since Road America, however this time he’s racing against his father Jon.

In fact the Field’s are just one of four pairs of fathers and sons to make up the 28-car entry this weekend.

Gustavo Rafols continues to set the benchmark in the PRO 1500 class. The points leader was fifth fastest overall in both practice sessions, and the only 1500cc SR3 driver to be in the 1:23s, which he did in the midday session.

Fellow young gun Palmer Miller, championship hopeful Greg Gorski and Nate Smith were all in the 1:24s during Practice 1. However, things were tighter in the midfield across the sessions with a swag of drivers in the 1:25s including Alain Derzie, Alex Morton, and Nick Pearson.

Zac Ping has returned to the 1340 class, and the Georgia native once again showed why he’s a name to keep in mind for the future. In Practice 1 Ping was a full second clear from the next PRO 1340 driver, his father Jeff.

In Practice 2 he was two seconds faster than championship points leader Mike Anzaldi, who appears to be still coming to grips with Road Atlanta’s 2.540 mile roller-coaster ride. Others to watch in PRO 1340 include Jason Greenwood, John Pearson and Bob Grecyzn.

Qualifying for Round 5 of the Blue Marble Radical Cup gets underway 10:30am ET Saturday.

Race 13 of the season commences at 2:55pm ET Saturday, while Sunday features Race 14 at 12:15pm ET and Race 15 at 3:40pm ET. Follow the action via livetiming on the RaceMonitor app.