1986 – Miller Nets ASA Kalamazoo Victory

 

Butch Miller is joined by his daughter Kasey, his son Henry, and the rest of this crew after winning the ASA Miller 400 at Kalamazoo Speedway. – Tom DeVette Photo

Kalamazoo, Mich. (August 24, 1986) – At first glance, Butch Miller’s victory in Sunday’s ASA Racing Series Miller 400 at Kalamazoo Speedway would appear to have been a runaway.

Miller led 344 of the event’s 400 trips around the .375-mile oval and he lapped all but one of the 23 opponents at least once sometime during the course of the battle.

But in reality, the event was anything but easy pickings for Miller. He never could lap Bobby Dotter, and both Dick Trickle and Mie Eddy were able to unlap themselves, with Eddy doing so in spectacular fashion, outrunning Miller under the green.

However, Edy had incurred a two-lap deficit before he rallied, and Trickle was still 6.55 seconds behind the victor at the checkers.

“I have a hard time getting around here,” said Miller. “At this track, you can’t put your foot to the floor and go.”

Even though he couldn’t run all-out, Miller was fast enough to dominate the field.

Polesitter Mark Martin, fresh from a record 13.189 second qualifying run, led the way for the first 53 circuits, while Miller and Dotter moved into position to challenge for the top spot. Dotter took over on lap 54 but he yield the lead to Miller two laps later.

Miller had already put the likes of Kenny Wallace, Harold Fair, NASCAR standout Bobby Allison, and former ASA champ Bob Senneker one lap down when a flat tire sent Eddy to the pits, where he surrendered two laps while the field was under green.

Miller went on to lap Trickle moments before the event’s first caution came out on lap 153. With the field under yellow, Miller made the first of three pit stops. He returned in time to retain the lead with Dotter and Tom Jones on the lead lap.

Trickle got back on the same circuit as the frontrunner when Miller pitted a second time on lap 266 and Eddy regained a lap the 274th time around.

Under the green, Trickle eased through traffic to take over second place. He stayed on the lead lap and in second the rest of the way to record his fifth runner-up finish of the season. Dotter placed third, with Eddy and Jones completing 399 laps to nail down fourth and fifth, respectively.

As a result of the finish, Trickle moved to the top of the point standings for the first time this season, increasing his total to 1,475, six more than Martin and seven more than Miller.


Results –


1. Butch Miller
2. Dick Trickle
3. Bobby Dotter
4. Mike Eddy
5. Tom Jones
6. Mark Martin
7. Ed Cooper
8. Kenny Wallace
9. Russ Urlin
10.Harold Fair
11.Bob Senneker
12.Ken Lund
13.Kent Stauffer
14.Gary St. Amant
15.John Wilson