KOKOMO, Ind. — After a successful year sharing time between Dietz Motorsports and Jason Johnson Racing, Parker Price-Miller will close out the sprint car season in a familiar spot.
Price-Miller will reunite with car owner Bernie Stuebgen and take the wheel of one of Stuebgen’s familiar Indy Race Parts-backed entries for the final five World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series races of the year.
The 21-year-old Hoosier will wheel the No. 71 sprint car Friday at Kansas’ Lakeside Speedway and Saturday at Missouri’s Lake Ozark Speedway before returning to his familiar No. 71p for the Oct. 24 Outlaw stop at Kokomo Speedway and the Nov. 5-7 World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.
He moves back to the Indy Race Parts team after earning five top-five and 21 top-10 finishes in 41 starts with the World of Outlaws this season. Price-Miller is ninth in points with five races to go.
Though he took a World of Outlaws victory in the Dietz Motorsports No. 14 at Iowa’s 34 Raceway on July 10 and also subbed in the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41 during February’s DIRTcar Nationals, Price-Miller noted that “some things just didn’t work out,” leading to his split from the Philip Dietz-led operation.
“I would say that 2020 has been one of my best years. I’ve had a great car all year long, a great crew chief and a great team,” Price-Miller told SPEED SPORT. “There are just some things that didn’t work out that were talked about a little bit … and we just couldn’t quite work it all out. Great things always come to an end eventually, and it just is what it is. I have all the respect in the world for JJR and Dietz Motorsports and what they do, and some things just didn’t quite fit me. Some things that I wanted to be a little bit different, they didn’t necessarily want to change. And that’s just how this sport is sometimes.
“Racing is a business and not everything is for everyone to be friends and be happy about. That’s just part of learning and finding what the best fit is for you personally, you know?” Price-Miller noted. “We’ll move on from here and know there’s always something else (in the future).”
Price-Miller was quick to point out that his friendship with Stuebgen and the Indy Race Parts squad made finding a place to land an easy decision when he began searching for a ride to finish the year.
“Bernie has always been really one of my good friends, no matter if I’m racing for him or it’s just being friends at the race track. No matter who I’m driving for, he’s always been there and been supportive of what I’m doing,” Price-Miller said. “When this all happened, I called Bernie and he said that he’ll always have a car for me whenever he’s able to. Luckily, it worked out now and we’re going to finish out the year.”
Though Price-Miller admitted that continuing into next season with Stuebgen is a possibility, his plans for next year aren’t something that he’s thinking about at this point.
His main focus is trying to close the year on a winning note and building some momentum going into the offseason.
“Right now, it’s something where it’s getting to the end of the season and we’re just thinking about the next race. We’re not thinking about Kokomo; we’re not thinking about World Finals yet; we’re just thinking about Lakeside and Lake Ozark and trying to win those races,” said Price-Miller. “When that time comes, we’ll figure out what makes sense (for 2021). I have some opportunities to do some other things, that I can’t really get into just yet because I don’t have all the pieces put together at this point, but I’d like to be on the Outlaw tour (again). That’s what my goal is. We just have to figure a few more things out and I think that will be a possibility, whether it’s for my own team or someone else.
“But regardless, I would definitely like to keep racing with Bernie when I can, and that might be an option, too, for next year. It just comes down to whatever makes the most sense for me going forward.”