Lebanon, OH — Brett Miller enjoys a slim lead after the first of two preliminary rounds in the $25,000 North America Drivers Championship currently being contested at Miami Valley Raceway.  The native Ohioan, who plans to return to the Buckeye State for the 2019 season, accumulated 75 points with a win, a second, a third and a fourth place finish in his four drives on Sunday (Jan. 6). Randy Tharps, who scored the only driving double on the day, is a solid second with 72 points.

Brett Miller leads the North America Drivers Challenge after Day One. Conrad photo.

Only 10 of the 30 drivers competing will advance after Monday afternoon’s second round to the Championship Round on Tuesday when they will compete head-to-head in eight races to determine who wins the trophy, the title and the $10,000 first prize.

In addition to Miller and Tharps, the Top 10 after Day One are: Shawn Gray (63), Aaron Merriman (57), Jeremy Smith and Sam Widger (55 each), Joe Bonjiorno (54), Chris Page (53), Pat Berry (50) and Drew Monti (49).

All but one of the top ten drivers recorded a win—worth 30 points– in the competition, as did Mike Oosting (47 points) and J. Bradley Harris (40 points).  Shawn Gray did not reach the winner’s circle, but benefitted from three runnerup finishes worth 20 points each.

Win mutuels in the spirited contest ranged from $3.60 to $40.20 with the average payoff a healthy $13.

The featured $27,500 Open Handicap Trot was captured by the day’s longest shot, The Next Triumph (Brett Miller), scoring in 1:56 over fellow long shots Monopoly Blue Chip (Billy Davis Jr.) and Flight Of The Kiwi (Chris Page).

In addition to the $40.20 win price, the exacta paid a whopping $523 while a 50-cent trifecta returned $2,117.50.

Monday’s Round Two of the North America Drivers Championship begins at 2:05 p.m.