CONCORD, N.C. — Parker Price-Miller and his family-owned team have committed to run the full World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series season.
Teaming up with his dad, Scott Ronk, Price-Miller and the PPM Racing team plan to chase rookie-of-the-year honors with the series.
“I pretty much ran the whole thing last year with Phil (Dietz and Dietz Motorsports) and I kind of got the feel and taste of it,” Price-Miller said. “I realized running with the Outlaws you make a lot more money. You’re getting paid more position-wise than any other series and the with the points fund. It just kind of all made sense. I’ve always wanted to do it. It all happened at the right time.”
Price-Miller has 126 starts with the World of Outlaws and two wins — his most recent with Dietz Motorsports at 34 Raceway last year. He parted ways with Dietz before the end of the 2020 season, leading to his need for a ride in 2021.
With the majority of good rides already taken and most teams requiring a driver to bring something to the table, Price-Miller said his dad’s thought was: instead of bringing funding to another team, they should bring it to their own.
Before driving for owners like Bernie Stuebgen – who owns the Indy Race Parts team – and Dietz – current crew chief and part-owner of Jason Johnson Racing – Price-Miller ran for his dad up until 2017.
With primary sponsorship from Chalkstix and support from a variety of others, Price-Miller will pilot his own No. 19 sprint car.
Having spent a year watching Dietz manage his own team, Price-Miller said there was a lot he learned that he can implement in his own team.
“I learned more about the in depths of the team; running the team and behind the scenes stuff,” he said. “Phil was very good with that. Kind of learning how to race with the Outlaws night in and night out. I had always done it here and there. Racing with the 14 team every night with the Outlaws, I learned how hard it is to go up and down the road with these guys every night. It was a big learning curve. I don’t think I’m done learning yet. You learn every day. I definitely think I learned a lot that I can bring to the table this season.”
He’s tapped Grant Boyum as the team’s crew chief. Boyum has worked with Aaron Reutzel among others.
Price-Miller is confident he’ll be competitive and be in contention for the Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year title battle against Reutzel and Brock Zearfoss.
“Definitely would like to win as many races as we can,” Price-Miller said. “But you also have to be realistic. We’d like to win a few races. I think right now I’d like to maintain top 10 in points and take what we can get. We’re not going to push ourselves to do more than what we’re capable of.
“As a team, I think we’re going to be really good. As a team, I don’t think we’re going to show up and always run the Last Chance Showdown and be a field filler. We’re going to be a contender. In the back of my head, I have high expectations for us. But I also have realistic expectations and don’t want to think too high, also.”