Miller & Timms At Odds After Friday Battle Goes Wrong

Gavin Miller finished a bittersweet second Friday night at Tulsa Expo Raceway. (David Campbell/DPC Media photo)

TULSA, Okla. – Despite the fact that he locked into his first Chili Bowl Nationals powered by NOS Energy Drink championship feature, Gavin Miller found it hard to celebrate the accomplishment after Friday night’s preliminary program.

After all, Miller’s second-place finish on Hard Rock Casino Qualifying Night came at the expense of his Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports teammate Ryan Timms’ Saturday hopes, something Miller was fiercely apologetic about as he stood in the pits reflecting on the 30-lap feature.

Timms, Miller, and eventual winner Logan Seavey were racing for the lead in a three-car battle on lap 18 when Timms dove low to protect the bottom lane in turn three from a potential slide-job attempt.

The problem? Miller didn’t realize the defensive move was coming in time and couldn’t get on the brakes hard enough to keep from running into the back of Timms’ JBL-backed No. 67.

Miller’s front bumper hooked the rear of Timms’ car, turning Timms around in the third turn as Miller and Seavey continued on and the caution lights blinked on.

In a blink, Timms went from a potential prelim night victory and lock-in spot to the Chili Bowl grand finale to the front row of a Saturday D-main, relegated to 15th in the final Friday night rundown.

Meanwhile, Miller took one of those lock-in spots, and it was a dichotomy he was keenly aware of from the moment that he climbed out of his No. 97 after the checkered flag.

“I’m so sorry,” Miller lamented to longtime KKM crew chief Beau Binder even before taking off his helmet.

In reflecting on his race – and the contact heard ‘round the SageNet Center – Miller could only continue to apologize even as his mind began to turn toward his first Chili Bowl championship feature start.

“I know Ryan’s probably mad at me wrecking him; I truly didn’t mean to, and I have to apologize to him,” he continued. “That was a bad call on my part. I was trying to race Seavey hard and hooked Ryan’s rear bumper. I tried locking it up, but I couldn’t slow up enough in time.

“I was thinking about it the rest of the race.”

For his part, the 18-year-old native of Allentown, Pa., recognized that he still has a big day ahead of him Saturday, even though his path to Golden Driller contention wasn’t what he hoped it would be.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to be here in general,” said Miller. “Locking in is a positive for the team, but it doesn’t feel good the way it happened, nor does it feel good to lose the lead in the last couple of laps (of the feature) either. Beau has gotten the car to my liking … and I want to continue our momentum because we’re set up really well for Saturday night.”

And once he got back to the KKM pits, Miller’s first objective was to immediately seek out Timms.

“I apologized to Ryan because I truly wasn’t trying for what happened to happen at all. We had a couple words, and some of them weren’t very nice … but that’s to be expected from his position,” Miller continued. “If he doesn’t want to accept my apology, then so be it, but it wasn’t intentional and I would never intentionally wreck anyone … especially a teammate.

“It’s over now, it happened, and there’s nothing I can do to change it. That’s racing sometimes. There will always be people that hate on it, but I know I didn’t mean it and all I can do is try and move forward.”

Ryan Timms in action at Tulsa Expo Raceway. (Buck Monson photo)

On the other side of the coin, Timms wasn’t ready to accept Miller’s apology because of past history between the duo.

“Gavin just wrecked me,” Timms said. “He did it once (previously) and I got over it, but he did it again tonight and I’m pretty unhappy with him. He comes in the trailer and says, ‘I apologized to the camera,’ so he manned up and said what he did … but to defend himself after that and act like it’s no big deal didn’t make me happy at all because it’s a very big deal here.”

How consequential was Timms’ spin? Dropping back two – if not three – mains in the Saturday program may take him out of any chance of making the Chili Bowl finale at all.

It’s not impossible – Daison Pursley came from the D to the A on Saturday a year ago – but the challenge ahead certainly didn’t aid Timms’ mood at all.

“Had I seen Gavin right when I got back to the trailer, I probably would have caused a pretty big scene,” Timms fumed. “I don’t think I’ve ever been that mad in my whole life. I was really heated.”

With only Driller Day remaining, both drivers have to put Friday’s collision out of their minds and try to focus solely on trying to win their first Golden Driller trophy. It’s a tall task indeed.

“This is an amazing opportunity I’ve had all week with KKM,” Miller said. “Like I’ve said, I hate how I got to the lock in, but the key now is making consistent laps in the [pole shuffle] to try and move ourselves closer to the front of the grid. It’s about fixing the errors and resetting my mind, now.”

“Being in a D-main, all I can do is try to get up through there,” Timms tipped. “Daison did it last year, so I’m not counting myself out yet.”

Timms won’t forget, though. He assured everyone of that.

“I’ll get him back eventually,” said Timms. “He’ll get what he deserves.”

Action from the Chili Bowl Nationals powered by NOS Energy Drink concludes in grand fashion Saturday during NOS Energy Drink Driller Day from Tulsa Expo Raceway. Every lap is available on FloRacing.

Race Face Digital’s Chili Bowl coverage is supported by DPC Media, home of longtime motorsports and automotive photographer David Campbell. To purchase DPC apparel or order photos from Chili Bowl 2025, visit www.seemymind.com for more information.