Evan J Smith

For over 30 years, Rollie Miller has made his career in drag racing, traveling from drag strip to drag strip for the NHRA Safety Safari and now as Event Director and General Manager for ProMedia, promoters of the NMRA and NMCA (National Mustang Racers Association and National Muscle Car Association) sanctioning bodies. The native Texan got his first taste of drag organized drag racing in 1987 when the doors opened at Houston Raceway Park (now Royal Purple Raceway), where Miller competed in a low 10-second 1963 Chevy II that ran low 10s with supercharged 383 small-block. He also ran a Chevy truck with a big-block that dipped in the 10s.

Rollie Miller

Though passionate about driving, Miller switch gears in 1991 when he worked a weekend for the NHRA Safety Safari at the very first NHRA national event at RPR in Baytown, Texas. Miller loved racing, but also the excitement of working with the renowned Safety Safari crew and the organizational side of the sport. Over the next few seasons he transitioned to a full-time position with NHRA, ultimately following the entire circuit.

Following a 20-plus race series is no easy task and by 2013 Miller was ready for a change. Looking for a new challenge, he moved to ProMedia, where he assumed the role of NMRA and NMCA Event Director. His impact was immediate and he quickly ascended to General Manager of the company.

Miller is dedicated to making the NMRA and NMCA an excellent place to race, but also a place for families and fans to come out and see high-quality drag racing, plus car show, and enjoy a healthy manufacturer’s midway. He’s also a big fan of Stock/Super Stock racing. In fact, Miller and his team have dedicated themselves to creating a home within the NMRA for Cobra Jet racers, and the NMCA for all types of Stock and Super Stock racers. Miller has some big news about Stock and Super Stock, so we sat down with him to find out what racers can expect in 2017 and beyond.

Class Racer: How Did you get your start in drag racing?

Rollie Miller: I was a typical kid from Houston and in 1987-88 I went out to Houston Raceway Park, that’s the year the track opened. The first year the NHRA came there I got hired to work the top end of the track and direct cars off the track. The second pair down was Shelly Anderson and Don Prudhomme in Top Fuel. Shelly blew up in a fireball and I first jumped over the wall to get out of the way, then I grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran over and put out the fire. And from that moment on I started working for the Safety Safari. By 1992 I worked 15-16 races a year and by 2003 I was doing the whole circuit.

CL: What made you decide to come to Promedia?

RM: I was on the road 260 days a year with NHRA and this job offered an opportunity to join a team and step up my career and continue to build the team at ProMedia.

CL: What is your Position at ProMedia

RM: I took the position of Event Director, but shortly thereafter took on the role of General Manager as well. On the GM side I basically manage the everyday operation of the company. That includes marketing, sales, art department, publishing and editorial of our two in-house magazines Race Pages and Fastest Street Car, along with the event stuff and our technical team. As Event Director I oversee everything that goes with putting on 14 events including scheduling, logistics, staffing, and I deal with the tracks, too. Of course I don’t do it all, as we have excellent personnel in place, a great group of people from our president Steve Wolcott, down to those who work in the Powermall and at the gates. We have a dedicated team at the office and we bring as many as 18 to 22 people to run each event.

CL: What is the most challenging part of your job?

RM: Every event is different and it presents its own challenges. From racer issues to weather, you name it. I learned a lot from our own Gene Bergstrom. It’s most important to make every event safe and fun, even when it’s chaotic behind the scenes.

CL: What’s the most rewarding part of your job?

RM: Seeing the enthusiasm of the staff and the participants and helping the series grow. We’ve had growth since 2013, and that’s not me, it’s a team effort. It comes from keeping up with racers needs, having a strong rule committee, a great editorial team and media coverage, and introducing new classes like Factory Super Cars and Pro Stock in NMCA and Coyote Stock and Coyote Modified in NMRA.

CL: Speaking of new classes, we hear NMCA will be introducing a Stock/Super Stock category in 2017. Is this true?

RM: We are actually days away from announcing a new Stock/Super championship category for 2017. The Stock and Super Stock racers have a huge amount of passion, energy and emotion and our ultimate goal is to offer the best racing and provide the most fun for all three forms of Stock/Super Stock racing, which includes Nostalgia Super Stock, current Stock and Super Stock, and the Factory Stock class. We already have Nostalgia SS and Holley EFI Factory Super Cars, and we’ll be introducing a new points-earning Stock/SS class designed for those who currently race for 2017. The class will run at all six NMCA events and we’ll offer an excellent purse and contingency program for the racers. In fact, we’re planning to make the official announcement just prior to the PRI show next week.

CL: What can fans or racers who’ve never been to an NMCA Race expect.

RM: The beauty of our series is that anyone can come out and see every type of muscle car and muscle car drag racing from street-legal cars that run in True Street to Stock Eliminator and Super Stock, exciting power-adder small-tire classes, right up to extreme Pro Mods. We also offer bracket racing, a big car show at each event and other attractions, too. Most events start with a test and tune, and then once qualifying starts racer’s can expect to get at least two runs Friday, two runs Saturday and eliminations on Sunday. It’s the same national event concept that you may be used to, with organization and a nice flow. We have racer appreciation parties at select events and other specialty classes like the FAST/Pure Stock series.

CL: Rollie, thank you for your time and best of luck in 2017.

RM: Thank you and lastly I’d like to encourage racers wanting more information to stop by and see us at the PRI show this week, or you can check out www.nmradigital.com.