(TOLEDO, Ohio) – Joey Miller, a five-time winner in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, will compete in the series’ first trip to Elko Speedway on Saturday, June 2. The 27-year-old driver from Lakeville, Minn. is among the first group of entries for the Akona 200 presented by Federated Car Care.
Prior to this season, the ARCA Racing Series had raced in 28 states. The Akona 200 is not only ARCA’s first trip to Elko, but its first trip to Minnesota – a 29th state for the national stock car tour as it celebrates its 60th Anniversary Season. Along for the ride will be Miller, who last raced in the series at Madison International Speedway in Wisconsin last August, finishing eighth.
“Elko’s a great little track, and it’s 10 minutes from my house, so I definitely consider it my home track,” said Miller.
“I’ve got more laps there than anywhere else, that’s for sure. The track isn’t the widest track I’ve ever been on, but what’s great about it is that it’s a two-groove track, so a guy’s going to have the ability to come from the back and move forward if he needs to. It’s a tight, racy, little track, and with these big heavy ARCA cars on it, it’s going to make it even tighter. I think the fans are in for one heck of a show.”
Miller will appear with his car, the No. 20 Country Joe Homes/Aspen Electric/Installed Building Dodge, Sunday at the St. Paul Saints baseball game at Midway Stadium. The game will begin at 1 p.m.
Miller has 20 top-10 finishes among 31 prior starts in ARCA competition, and the first of his five wins came in his series debut at Nashville Superspeedway in 2004. He later won at Berlin Raceway in Michigan, Gateway International Raceway near St. Louis, Nashville again, and Salem Speedway in Indiana. In 2005, his only full season in the series, he finished second in points to nine-time ARCA champion Frank Kimmel, who is also entered for June 2’s race.
Miller’s crew from that time – including crew chief Mike Chaffee and car chief Mike Resop – will work with the driver at the Akona 200. Miller said the volunteer crew gets together twice a week to prepare the car.
The ARCA Racing Series will hold two practices on June 2, from 2-2:45 p.m. and 3:15-4. Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell will follow at 5, and every driver in the starting field will sign autographs for fans on the track from 6:30-7:30. The 200-lap, 75-mile race will begin at 8. All times are Central.
The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards has crowned an ARCA national champion each year since its inaugural season in 1953, and has toured over 200 race tracks in 28 states since its inception. The series has tested the abilities of drivers and race teams over the most diverse schedule of stock car racing events in the world, visiting tracks ranging from 0.4 mile to 2.66 miles in length, on both paved and dirt surfaces as well as a left- and right-turn road course in its most recent season. This year, the series visited Alabama’s Mobile International Speedway for the first time. In June, the first event at Minnesota’s Elko Speedway will give ARCA a race in a 29th state.
Founded by John and Mildred Marcum in 1953 in Toledo, Ohio, the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is recognized among the leading sanctioning bodies in the country. Closing in on completing its sixth decade after hundreds of thousands of miles of racing, ARCA administers over 100 race events each season in three professional touring series and local weekly events.
