RIP Robin Miller

[MonteCristo]

https://racer.com/2021/07/31/miller-a-l ... er-nation/

Update from Robin. Pretty emotional reading.

Had the honour and pleasure of meeting him once, and it's a top-tier memory of mine.

Shit situation where there is no real upside. I wish him all the best to enjoy whatever precious time he has left.

[Ruslan]

@MonteCristo Thanks for that.

Quote from Wikipedia:

Miller worked for 33 years at The Indianapolis Star, becoming one of the nation's best known sports writers for Indy car racing.[6] ...Following the 1996 open wheel split, Miller was highly critical of the Indy Racing League and Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Tony George. For this, he drew considerable ire from many locals and from various city leaders, but likewise gained a considerable following from CART supporters. However, he typically stopped short of directly criticizing most of the actual IRL drivers and crew members, explaining that most were hard-working and passionate about their sport, and merely intermixed in a political situation that was largely out of their control. He lost his radio show on WIBC and television job at Channel 13 for his anti-George stance. Eventually, after the department reorganized, Miller's duties shifted from columnist to focus solely on auto racing.

In January 2001, Miller was fired from the Star.[7] The reasons given for his release were violations of the company's e-mail policy as well as the ethics policy.[7] He reportedly sent abusive e-mails to readers, sent pornographic material to co-workers, and sent defamatory e-mails about local community leaders (namely Tony George and Colts officials).[7] He also was charged with accepting $2,500 from Kenny Bräck for work on his web site[4][7] (Miller claims he never received the money[5]), and being paid to write promotional material for CART,[4] which violated company policy.[7] Miller filed a grievance over the dismissal, however, it was dismissed.[7] An outside arbitrator ruled that the firing was justified due to "gross misconduct" on the job.[7] Miller contended that the Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Tony George conspired to have him fired,[4] due to his ongoing bad press about the IRL,[6] and that behind the scenes, the Speedway would accept The Star as a business partner only if Miller was fired.[4][5]

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Miller_(journalist)

[MonteCristo]

Robin's healthy enough to return to the mailbag: https://racer.com/2021/08/03/millers-ma ... next-week/

[Everso Biggyballies]

Great news.

[MonteCristo]

https://racer.com/2021/08/13/miller-hon ... ny-at-ims/

Miller honored in special Motorsport Hall of Fame ceremony at IMS

“I’m 71 years old, and today was the best day of my life,” Miller told RACER. “To be honored by the Motorsports Hall of Fame and have all my friends and all these great drivers and mechanics show up, and then spend four hours having lunch with (A.J.) Foyt… I don’t know how you can top that.

“Randy Bernard was going to charter a jet and take me with all of my buddies to Detroit (for the induction ceremony), and I said, ‘Randy, bless your heart, that’s such a nice gesture, but I can’t stray too far from home.’

“But I spoke in front of 400 people, just off the top of my head, and… I mean this sincerely, this is the greatest time of my life. I’m dying, and I don’t give a ****. You can’t replace the memories and the friendships, and to have guys like Dario Franchitti and Jimmie Johnson and A.J. all coming over… you can’t prepare yourself for that. I went from stealing beer for Jim Hurtubise, and now I’m in the Hall of Fame with all of the greatest drivers, mechanics and car owners. You can’t quantify that. It was so unexpected and so flattering.

“There’s no what he could ever comprehend it,” Miller said. “You just can’t imagine… To hear your heroes talking about your life and your career; you can’t plan for that. You don’t have any idea that people are going to recognize you and be so supportive. It’s so humbling.

“You cannot imagine feeling the way they make me feel today. I’ve cried 10 times in my life and five of those was in the last month, because you get so emotional thinking about what these people are doing for me financially and emotionally, just trying to support me. You cannot know there’s that kind of love and support out there. Racers are a bunch of hard-asses, but it is such a people sport, and you don’t realize until something like this. I mean, the people that showed up… unbelievable.

“I wish everybody that loves racing could experience what I experienced today. Best day of my life.”

He does not look good at all in the photos, sadly, but that's to be expected.

At least he's going out with a bang and seems at peace with what's to come.

All the best, Robin.

[MonteCristo]

https://racer.com/2021/08/25/robin-miller-1949-2021/

https://racer.com/2021/08/25/tributes-f ... in-miller/

https://racer.com/2021/08/25/pruett-the ... in-miller/

Robin Miller 1949 – 2021

IndyCar journalist, broadcaster and advocate, and RACER senior writer and friend Robin Miller has died at the age of 71.

I'm quite moved by what Indycar and his racing family did for him at the end of his life. Shows how much he meant.

There will be a special little writer's desk for Robin in racing heaven, on the opposite end of town where he will never have to meet FTG.

Thanks for supporting the cause, Robin. You will be missed.

[PTRACER]

That is a shame, I thought we'd have him for a few months longer at least RIP.

[MonteCristo]

That is a shame, I thought we'd have him for a few months longer at least RIP.

After the update Racer posted a few weeks back, and Robin writing a couple more Mailbags and posts, I thought so too. Sadly not .

He went out on a high though.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Loved the way he wrote.... as has been mentioned a straight shooter. This a very short extract from an article he wrote back in 1965, published in Motorsport Magazine about Jim Clark when he first went to Indy.... he liked Clark!

But maybe the most impressive thing about Jim Clark’s assault on America in the 1960s was how he won over the brave, burly heroes of the Brickyard, who ate nails for lunch and chewed up those squat-to-pee road racers.

If anyone wants to read the full article by Robin Miller it is here: https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/arch ... round-indy

[SBan83]

LOL, he was very quotable like that, even when he spoke.

https://theathletic.com/1989025/2020/08 ... y-hellion/

Many, including his frequent co-host Dave Despain on the long-running Wind Tunnel show, are retweeting this article as the best piece ever written about him. And I have to agree. So well-written and entertaining, it really sucks you in. And makes you feel a bit choked up by the end too. The man's passion for the sport, Indy in particular, was something that can truly never be matched.

[MonteCristo]

Great story by somebody who Robin helped out.

https://racer.com/2021/08/27/insight-ho ... ering-job/

[MonteCristo]

Robin's telling of the turkey story .

[MonteCristo]

Includes Mario basically calling Miller on the right side of the split.

FTG.

Oh. And the end?

https://youtu.be/FaSIHcdQYps?t=5780

Jesus Christ.

That is fucking hysterical.

RIP Robin.

[MonteCristo]

What a guy though. Miss Robin so much.