Jerry Lee
11-10-2009, 02:29 PM
So much can be said about the man in this week's TMI, but I only have two minutes here. Robert Mitchell Miller is a Midget racing promoter extraordinaire, 7 time R.M.M.R.A. President, and has been an outstanding announcer at many race tracks over the years.
"Mitch" reminisced about growing up at Lakeside Speedway in a 1994 cable TV documentary I produced. He had us all laughing in the pre-interview when apparently the person who set up the shoot for me didn't give him all the details about it......
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MM: "Well, to start with they got us here today and we didn't know we were going to be on camera. See, we thought we were just going to talk into a mic or something. Now, I've got on this old Ohio State sweat shirt here and had I known, I would have worn something else!"
JL: "(laughs) What was growing up in North Denver like in the '40's?"
MM: "In those days, we not only loved baseball, football, and basketball like all kids, but we loved Midget auto racing and it was big in those days. It got headlines in the sports page and everything. Like now, it's hard to get a story in the paper, but in those days that was a very big thing in Denver and Lakeside Speedway was the place to go."
JL: "Who were some of your faves out there?"
MM: "Lloyd Axel was my favorite. Him and Johnny Tolan, Roy Bowe were the main names back in the early '40's. Bert McNeese and Joe Giba, all these names were great in Midget racing history at Lakeside."
JL: "Who would have thought that a little amusement park side attraction would become so big?"
MM: "The Midgets is why the track was built. Lakeside was always the home track for the Midgets and Lakeside had all the history. Great history, probably one of the best in the United States for Midget auto racing history."
JL: "Lakeside seemed to be the stop over for those guys running on both East and West coast tracks, right?"
MM: "A lot of famous names in the country, not just locally, but famous guys from the Midgets from way back raced there."
JL: "Didn't some famous Indy racers come through here as well?"
MM: "Johnny Parsons for one, who of course went on to win the Indianapolis 500. Many great names from the past stopped at Lakeside Speedway at one time or another to race the Midgets."
JL: "Any memorable events as an announcer out there?"
MM: "The 50th anniversary comes back to mind. Great names from the past when it first started like Burton Spickler, Judd Pickup, and some of these guys showed up for the 50th anniversary, and they had run out there when the track opened! Fifty years later here are these guys and they had a great time that night. And it was special to be a part of that."
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My thanks to Mitch G. for the added help and info. for this post.:bow:
"Mitch" reminisced about growing up at Lakeside Speedway in a 1994 cable TV documentary I produced. He had us all laughing in the pre-interview when apparently the person who set up the shoot for me didn't give him all the details about it......
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
MM: "Well, to start with they got us here today and we didn't know we were going to be on camera. See, we thought we were just going to talk into a mic or something. Now, I've got on this old Ohio State sweat shirt here and had I known, I would have worn something else!"
JL: "(laughs) What was growing up in North Denver like in the '40's?"
MM: "In those days, we not only loved baseball, football, and basketball like all kids, but we loved Midget auto racing and it was big in those days. It got headlines in the sports page and everything. Like now, it's hard to get a story in the paper, but in those days that was a very big thing in Denver and Lakeside Speedway was the place to go."
JL: "Who were some of your faves out there?"
MM: "Lloyd Axel was my favorite. Him and Johnny Tolan, Roy Bowe were the main names back in the early '40's. Bert McNeese and Joe Giba, all these names were great in Midget racing history at Lakeside."
JL: "Who would have thought that a little amusement park side attraction would become so big?"
MM: "The Midgets is why the track was built. Lakeside was always the home track for the Midgets and Lakeside had all the history. Great history, probably one of the best in the United States for Midget auto racing history."
JL: "Lakeside seemed to be the stop over for those guys running on both East and West coast tracks, right?"
MM: "A lot of famous names in the country, not just locally, but famous guys from the Midgets from way back raced there."
JL: "Didn't some famous Indy racers come through here as well?"
MM: "Johnny Parsons for one, who of course went on to win the Indianapolis 500. Many great names from the past stopped at Lakeside Speedway at one time or another to race the Midgets."
JL: "Any memorable events as an announcer out there?"
MM: "The 50th anniversary comes back to mind. Great names from the past when it first started like Burton Spickler, Judd Pickup, and some of these guys showed up for the 50th anniversary, and they had run out there when the track opened! Fifty years later here are these guys and they had a great time that night. And it was special to be a part of that."
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My thanks to Mitch G. for the added help and info. for this post.:bow: