In the modern annals of auto racing, there are a handful of people, who, behind-the-scenes, played pivotal roles in the Sport. Billy “Bones” Miller was one of those individuals. When referring to Billy as an angel, it’s not in the heavenly sense of halos and wings but as a person of great generosity. Sadly, on the 28th of March, he did earn those wings.
First a bit of background information. A So-Cal kid, Billy started attending the drags at Santa Ana in the mid ’50s and then other local tracks especially Lions. He made fast friends with many of the area’s racers including Tom “The Mongoo$e” McEwen and Don “The Snake” Prudhomme. While his friends developed their racing careers, Billy focused his time and intellect on the restaurant industry. He started out at a Jack-In-the-Box drive-in and ended up owning twelve very lucrative Sizzler Family Steakhouses throughout the Los Angeles area.
In preparation for this piece, some of those who had been very close to Billy were contacted: Pat Galvin, Donnie Couch, Skip Hess, Lynn Rose, Tom Prock, Roland Leong and Don “The Snake” Prudhomme. To a person, they spoke at length and very fondly of Billy’s extreme kindness, generosity, loyalty and friendship, sharing stories which exemplified those traits.
Just one example: Back in the 70’s Couch told of experiencing an excruciating toothache while attending a dinner party at Billy’s house (by the way, Billy prepared the meal). 11 o’clock at night, Billy summons his personal dentist, takes Donnie to the dentist’s office, even assists in performing a root canal and then pays for the procedure which Donnie could ill-afford at the time.
Many racers benefited from Billy’s largesse, including Tony Nancy, Jr. Thompson, the Beaver Brothers & Condit and Snake. A barrel of nitro often magically appeared at a cash-strapped racer’s trailer. Perhaps the two who derived the most were Goo$e and Raymond Beadle. In ’78 while attempting to race while dealing with his son’s leukaemia and imminent death, McEwen was financially floundering, Billy came to his rescue, providing the necessary funding to keep him racing. He even accompanied Goo$e to Indy, and as a crew member, helped Tom score his iconic U.S. Nationals victory.
A year later, McEwen’s entire racing operation was destroyed in a tragic traffic accident. Billy helped pay for the reconstruction of Tom’s race team.
At one time Raymond Beadle’s racing empire eclipsed drag racing. In addition to the fabled Blue Max flopper and a World of Outlaws sprinter, it included a NASCAR operation featuring a Winston Cup car, first driven by the late Tim Richmond and then Rusty Wallace and a Busch series entry. Initially, Billy sponsored Beadle’s Busch racer, but in ’89 his involvement became much more significant. While Rusty Wallace was in the thick of a tight Winston Cup points battle, team funding was on the ropes. Billy stepped up and financed Beadle’s NASCAR effort. Thanks to his generosity and friendship, Blue Max Racing and Rusty Wallace were 1989 Winston Cup champions.
Yet another example of the strength of Billy’s friendship and generosity was his relationship with Skip Hess, of the “Skipper’s Critter” Anglia Gasser fame. In the mid 70’s Hess an industrial designer by trade had an idea to manufacture magnesium wheels for the wildly popular motocross bicycle business. The acrobatics performed by kids were resulting in mangled wire wheels which came standard on the bikes, Hess’s idea for mag wheels would solve the problem. Despite its merits, the idea wasn’t gaining traction. His long-time friend Billy Miller came to the rescue, injecting the financing which allowed Skip the time to get his business to blossom into the highly successful enterprise: BMX Products, the “MotoMag” wheel being the first offering. Shortly thereafter the BMX bike was born, and literally, thousands were manufactured. Eventually, Miller got McEwen involved which led to the popular “Mongoose” BMX bike model which quite possibly you or your dad may have riddden.
To see Billy in the pits you’d never have a clue as to the depth of his involvement. No flash, fancy clothes, bling or boisterous braggadocio. The only thing that would gain your attention was his wry smile and infections laughter.
“Bones” you will be dearly missed.
