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One of the last competitive, self-sponsored racers in Top Fuel
drag racing is Carson City, Nevada's Bill Miller. |
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Bill Miller is one of the last true independents in Top Fuel drag racing.
A rarity in a motorsport where many race teams have multiple cars, scores of
full-time crew members and tens of millions of dollars in corporate
backing, Miller races mostly out of his pocket, running a single car
with a small, tightly-knit and highly-motivated race team. Why does he
race the Bill Miller Engineering Top Fuel Dragster with a crew of
seven and a budget dwarfed by those of the National Hot Rod
Association's biggest stars? There are many reasons but first
and foremost is: persistence. |
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In the BME race trailer, one of
the first things you see is a wall plaque quoting Calvin Coolidge, 30th
President of the United States: "Nothing in the world can take the
place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than
unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is
almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated
derelicts. Persistence and determination are omnipotent. The slogan
'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human
race." Every member of the BME Race Team takes those words to heart.
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The
BME Top Fuel Dragster, with Brady Kalivoda at the wheel, blasts down Pomona Raceway on a qualifying pass at the 2004 NHRA Winternationals. |
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Asked how he manages to run a Top Fueler
with a small crew and limited financing, Bill Miller will quickly
answer, "Persistence. It's not talent, not genius, not
education...it's persistence." |
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More reasons BME runs Top Fuel? The team craves the competition and excitement of the NHRA's top class. Bill Miller and his crew are captivated by the engineering challenges of racing supercharged, nitromethane-burning
dragsters. Miller, also, views racing as a team-building experience
for his employees, several of whom are part of the BME crew. Last, but
certainly not least, Bill Miller Engineering uses its race car to
test, validate and promote its products:
BME Forged Aluminum Racing
Pistons, BME Wrist Pins and BME Forged Aluminum Connecting Rods.
"Just recently," Bill Miller says, "the
connecting rod was improved and that was a direct result of runnin'
the car. In an effort to make a better rod, we found better materials.
They cost three times as much but the durability of our rods is about
five times more than before. That makes a big difference to racers who
use the BME Rod.
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"We' continually upgrade the
pistons and the pins, too, because we're at the races and talk with
guys who run my parts. We get continuous feedback about things to
improve as a direct result of being at the races with that car. We
are," Miller states flatly, "the only manufacturer of
pistons,
pins
and connecting rods which runs its own race car in an effort to stay
current and keep a finger on the pulse of what's goin' on out there."
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This is most of the BME Top Fuel Team. It's a small, closely-knit and experienced group of people who work and communicate very well. The BME Team is preparing the BME Dragster for a second qualifying attempt at the '04 Winterr
Nationals. |
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Another of the reasons Bill Miller races a Fueler
is it's a rolling test and validation tool for his line of
aluminum connecting rods, racing pistons and wrist pins. Here
Miller, himself, examines a set of BME Rods which came out of
the engine in the BME Top Fuel car. |
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Bill Miller is no rookie when it
comes to Top Fuel. He's been a regular in drag racing's ultimate class
for more than two decades. The BME Race Team aren't quitters nor do
they look for the easy way to success. For 15 years, the BME Dragster
was the only Top Fueler powered by the Fontana/Chevrolet engine in
what was, perhaps, some sort of ultimate test of persistence. At the
end of 1998 (long past when even Cal Coolidge might have thrown in the
towel), with reliability decreasing, development time increasing and
costs through the roof as the team tried to stay in the horsepower
race with the Fontana, BME finally switched to a more conventional,
Keith Black Hemi. |
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version of the Bill Miller Engineering Dragster debuted. Tim Gibson
drove the car to a 4.68 at the NHRA Winternationals at Pomona, California that February, a first-time-out performance which astonished everyone, including Miller, himself. Eventually, the "old" BME car went its quickest, 4.59-sec., with Gibson driving at the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, Indiana in 2001. At the World Finals at Pomona in '03, it ran its fastest at 323 mph, with David Grubnic
at the wheel...pretty darn good for a chassis which was built ten
years ago. |
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Once upon-a-time, Bill Miller raced a Chevrolet-powered Top Fuel
Dragster. For many years, it was the only blown Fontana/Chevy on
fuel at National Events |
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Tim Gibson at the
wheel of the old BME dragster at the Winternationals in 2001.
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In 2004, Bill Miller debuted an
all-new car at the Winternationals. The chassis is Don Long's latest design and the engine is an 8000hp, Brad Anderson Hemi. BME, also, had a new driver, Brady Kalivoda,
a rising Top Fuel star and second-generation driver out of Seattle.
Bill Miller both leads the team and works
on the car himself. Each of his crew members has a task which is
crucial to the team's overall success. |
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"When you look at the mountain we have to climb, here," Bill talks earnestly about the BME team''s
prospects, "which is to run a car competitively in Top Fuel--one of
the most competitive classes in drag racing--and we're doing it with a
crew of three full-time guys and four part-timers, competing against
crews of 10 to 12 who do this on a full-time basis; it's a tough
climb.
But we have all the right parts.
The new car helps because it's all current chassis technology as far
as engine position, angle and chassis flexibility. The new car will be
easier to run in hot weather whereas the other car wouldn't work well
as the temperature got hot and the track got more slippery." The BME
Top Fuel Team runs a limited National Hot Rod Association schedule. In
2004, the plan is for 15 National Events. |
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Today, the BME car uses an 8000hp Brad Anderson Hemi. Atop the BAE
Hemi is the new, Gibson/Miller Supercharger which is under
development by Bill Miller Engineering. |
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Now here's a picture right out of science fiction movie. Because nitromethane exhaust fumes are not so good to
breathe, when the team runs the motor in the pits while working on it, they all don these gas masks. The guy just to the right of driver, Brady Kalivoda,
is Bill Miller. |
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"I expect us to be
competitive right out of the box," Bill states. "We have a new Don
Long chassis...a state-of-the art car which took three years to build.
I'm confident it will run as well as or better than any car out there.
We'll have the engines and other stuff we need to run a 15-event
schedule."
At Pomona, the 2004 Winternationals
being delayed a week due to rain didn't damp the BME Team's enthusiasm
one bit. The new, BME Dragster was ready to rock and its performance
bore-out Bill Miller's prediction of being, "...competitive right out
of the box.". |
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The team qualified 14th with a 4.69-sec/311.77-mph pass in the first qualifying session on Friday, a credible performance considering it was only the second run the car had made at a National Event. In Sunday's first round of eliminations, Kalivoda was matched with Clay Millican in the 104+ Octane Boost top fueler.
Brady beat Millican off the starting line with a .059-sec reaction to Millican's .073-sec and was out ahead of the the 104+ car, but Millican caught Brady at the top end, winning the round with a 4.545-sec./316.6-mph. to BME's
4.66/311.92. |
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The BME Team just prior to the new car's first qualifying run at
a NHRA National Event. They've just started the engine. |
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Kalivoda
heats the tires with a short burn-out. |
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BME Team owner Bill Miller termed the weekend a "success" and stated that, with further engine and clutch tuning, the car will get at least a tenth of a second quicker. Interviewed after the event, BME driver, Kalivoda said, "The RacePak
(on-board data recording system) showed Bill that there's much more to
be had in the area of performance, so we're all eager to get to Las
Vegas and do our thing. If the weekend was any indication, we've got a
fun--and fast--season ahead of us!" |
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The Driver:
Brady Kalivoda
Talk to Brady Kalivoda, driver of the Bill Miller Engineering Top Fuel Dragster, and you'd think he'd been born with a race car steering wheel in his hand and nitromethane
in his blood.
Actually, that's not just PR spin. Brady has drag racing genes. His Dad, former NHRA national record holder, Dick Kalivoda,
was a veteran modified roadster and Top Fuel driver in the
1960s. Dick's first ride,.......
CLICK HERE
FOR THE REST OF BRADY'S BIO
AND PHOTOS |
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The same burn-out caught by drag race photographer Dave Kommel. |
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The BME Dragster's performance in the
team's next event, five weeks later at the SummitRacing.com Nationals at Las
Vegas, began with incremental improvement. Brady Kalivoda bettered the
team's qualifying performance with a 6.64, the new car's quickest pass
yet and good for tenth spot. Unfortunately, it was a tough first round
at Vegas. Brady smoked the tires at the 60-foot mark, got out of it,
spun the tires again, then shut-off giving the win to David Grubnic in
the Kalitta Air Dragster.
Pleased with the new car's performance
to date, Bill Miller states, "It's possible we could do all 23 Events
in '04, but I'm not going to try that unless I have the resources to
run well against the Bernsteins and Dixons of the world. At this
point, Bill Miller Engineering puts up most of the money. We're, also,
pleased to have Autolite, Clevite, and Red Line Synthetic Oil
Corporation helping us out, but to run 23 races; we'd need more resources
than what we have now. Right now, we're going to keep our schedule to about
15 races this season." If you go to an NHRA National Event and you want to
meet some of the last hard-core, independents in Top Fuel drag racing
stop by the BME pit.
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The BME Team at Pomona
in 2004. |
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