(Josh James Artwork)
Jordan DeLucia | December 20, 2024
After a season hindered by injury and recovery, Gavin Miller is ready to get his national Midget career back on track in 2025 with a third full-time season as part of Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports (KKM).
Miller, 17, of Allentown, PA, will return to the seat of the Indiana-based team’s Toyota-powered LynK Chassis No. 97 for all 27 races of the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota schedule — now a teammate to three other KKM drivers including 2024 Series champion Cannon McIntosh, Ohio racer Jacob Denney and Midget rookie Colton Robinson.
“I’m looking forward to trying to get started on the right foot, and just playing it smart this season, more than anything,” Miller said. “Just make sure I don’t do anything stupid to start off with and play my cards right. I think I can be pretty good in points and be able to contend for [a championship].”
Miller first joined KKM for his first handful of national Midget races midway through the 2022 season before competing full-time on the Xtreme Outlaw Series for the first time in 2023. He followed the same path for 2024 but encountered multiple injuries early in the season, sitting out two races in April to recover from a friction burn and another two races in May due to a concussion.
Though he made a full recovery from all injuries and made it back to Victory Lane in the season finale at Jacksonville Speedway in October, Miller was left unsatisfied.
“The whole reason why I want to come back is for the championship,” he said. “I think I got to the point where I was just racing for the win, which I am, but I also want something more, and that’s a championship. It means everything to keep winning (races), but a championship would mean even more.”
During his rookie national Midget season in 2023, Miller won two Xtreme Features and finished third in the championship points standings. Despite the struggles he faced in 2024, Miller learned discipline from the teachings of the veteran KKM crew — an invaluable skill he’ll take with him in pursuit of a national championship in 2025.
“It’s hard when you’re racing and trying to win, and you’re at 110 percent,” Miller said. “It’s like you’re on the edge every single time. But it’s at those points where you might have to calm it down a little bit and be at 90 percent; you still can win the race.”
Miller said a big help in learning discipline on the track was his new pairing with veteran crew chief Beau Binder. The two linked for the two races at Jacksonville in October and produced solid results, battling for the win in the final laps of Friday’s main event and winning the finale on Saturday.
The two will work together again next season and are focused on winning a championship, which begins with the first races of the Xtreme Outlaw Series season — Friday–Saturday, April 11–12, at Farmer City Raceway as part of the World of Outlaws Illini 100.
“We’ve been working pretty well,” Miller said. “I feel like we’ll have a pretty good shot at it because he’s good at communicating and I’m good at communicating back to him. We’re just bouncing ideas off each other.
“I like the new match with Beau. I think it should be okay if we play it smart in the beginning of the season and throughout the whole season.”
Jordan DeLucia | Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series
