JOHN "SHORTY" MILLER
Successful flaggers tend to be larger than life individuals who are able to impose their will on a high-strung gang of race car drivers with little more than a few flags, a waggle of the finger, and a scowl. Shorty Miller was a successful flagger, although he insisted on being called a "starter" instead of a flagman.
And Miller did it with flair, in a distinctive costume that left no doubt as to who was in charge. The following, extracted in part from an article "Nice Guy Shorty Miller Stern Ruler as Colorful Starter at Speedway" by John Albers that appeared in the Dayton Journal Herald April 21, 1964, tells Shorty's story.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Flagman John (Shorty) Miller is regarded as one of the nicest guys in auto racing, but the sawed-off Pennsylvania Dutchman can also be a stern ruler of the race track.
"He's the most honest guy I've ever met in racing," Dayton Speedway General Manager Ed (Lefty) McFadden, asserts. "He'd throw his own brother out if he thought he wasn't following the rules."
Miller, 44, is the colorful little fireplug who serves as "starter" for most of Dayton Speedway's big races.
Shorty's trademark is a bright red tam that he wears on the job. The 5-2, 190-pounder wouldn't think of going to race without it, whether he's working or not. He wears it to Indianapolis on his annual trip to the time trials. "People
wouldn't recognize me without it," he said with a chuckle.
Miller has already worn out two of them since he bought his first one 11 years ago in Canada.
A race driver himself before the war, Miller quit when he ralized that he didn't have the necessary reflexes. "I found out I wasn't a driver, but I wanted to stay with the sport," he said, explaining why he became an official. Unable to see much of the checkered victory flag as a driver, he handles it every race now.
Shorty prefer to be called a starter rather than a flagman.
"Flagging is only part of the job," he insists.
A machinist at NCR since he came to Dayton in 1946, Miller spends most of his time on weekends officiating at races in the Miami Valley. Kil-Kare, Shady Bowl and New Bremen fans are all familiar with him.
In 1963 he handled more than 50 races, and in his 17 years as a starter he's ruled at over 2,000 shows with just one fatality.
Although the peppery Miller commands the respect of his drivers, he doesn't like to show the black flag to competitors. "I know every one of the drivers and I consider them all my friends," he said. "I know how hard they work to get here. I don't like to end their race day unless it's absolutely necessary. And if it was ncessary, well, I'd throw my own brother out."
Postscript: John Potts (indybigjohn@adelphia.net) is a well known former flagman who was a friend of Shorty Miller. John sent along this remembrance:
In the years when I was with ARCA, and at least once at ASA, I had occasion to flag [at Dayton] and I loved the place. Earl Baltes also had me come over there from Salem, where I was a newspaperman at the time, to flag a race or two.
The track itself and the fans will never, ever pass away in my memory. They were among the most knowledgeable and appreciative fans in racing, and I can't think of a single day I spent at Dayton that I didn't enjoy thoroughly.
I was particularly happy to see the name of John "Shorty" Miller on the Hall of Fame list. Most of the time starters/flagmen are just part of the track, and people don't appreciate the love of the sport it takes to do that job properly on the shorter tracks. You have to care about the competitors and take that ride with them.
Shorty and I were great friends, and I had a lot of respect for him. He and I felt the same way about the job.
I remember one of those looonnng ARCA races when Shorty was still flagging. I was in the infield, and somebody grabbed my shoulder and pointed to the flagstand. Shorty was pointing at me, wanting my attention. When I looked his way, he started patting his head - the accepted signal for "I need relief."
When I noticed that his legs were also crossed, I knew what the problem was.
There was a caution flag for a spin a couple of laps later, and I was already across from the Turn 4 gate. I literally ran to the flagstand. Shorty just tossed me the yellow flag and took off like a scalded cat.
He came back a few minutes later under green and sighed, "Thanks." I just handed him the flag and said, "No problem, Shorty."
John Marcum told me later that he thought it was a neat deal, and added that we didn't miss a beat. He said when we went back to green, he thought he was the only ARCA official who had noticed there was a different flagman up there.
During his long career in motorsports, Shorty Miller accumulated a huge collection of memoriabilia. It was his dream to own an auto racing museum that he could take with him, a sort of museum trailer that would house his collection. He planned to take the museum across the country, from race to race and to every auto racing related event he could find.
When he retired, Shorty built his museum and began his travels. I have to admit that I lost track of Shorty and how his museum venture was getting along. My impression is that things didn't work out quite like he'd hoped and he eventually parked his museum, but kept his memoriabilia.
At some point Shorty became ill and eventually passed away, though again I must admit that I have very few details. And his huge collection? His spouse and/or family disposed of it, though it is not clear to me exactly what that meant or precisely what they did with it. I do know that when ever gearheads of a certain age gather in the Midwest someone, still to this day, asks "I wonder whatever happened to Shorty's photos and stuff?" And at that the rest of the guys at the table just shake their heads.
Lost. Gone forever. Probably destroyed. Never to be seen again, until....
You can imagine how the hair on the back of my head stood up when I received the following e-mail on August 20, 2008!
Dear Sir, You may be interested to know that my wife found Mr. Miller's racing collection near Crossville, Tn on highway 127 at a flea market. She purchased about 12 books for me from this collection. She said that there were boxes of newspapers and pictures of racing cars and programs from the Indy 500 all in boxes. Apparently a younger man who she talked to had purchased most of the NASCAR collection previously. I am sorry to be so vague about the location of Shorty's collection but she can recall little else to pin point this find. There were many scrap books and other racing related papers in the boxes. The man that owns the remainder of the collection is not a racing fan and is a flea market vendor. I thought that you may know someone who lives near this area that could locate this collection so it could be saved. As you can imagine much of what is cared for by one person becomes junk to all others. I can tell you that the books my wife found are in excellent condition and the rest of the things were still in good order. I am a long time race fan and have attended 45 Indianapolis 500 Mile races. Regards, Ed Slawinski in Michigan.
I immediately sent Ed a response hoping for more details and he responded with this:
Dear Mickey Thompson, I am sending another e-mail to you incase you do not receive the first one. The location was highway 127 and I 40. She was near Crossville, Tn. The man that owned the Files was foreign. There were boxes of the files. You can try the Crossville Flea Market. She remembers that it was in a farmers field but did not look like a permanent place. If you can find someone who is willing to hunt in that area you may be able to locate the files. She goes on these trips with a girl friend and they usually travel for two weeks. I hope that you can locate these Files as they were neatly done and contained alot of information about racing in the Midwest. Regards, Ed Slawinski in Michigan
Two days later my wife and I drove to Crossville, TN, the "Home of Tennessee's Largest Flea Market." We found nothing, but checked two other area flea markets and a host of yard sales. No luck.
Here's what we did find out. Once a year, Tennessee has "The World's Longest Yard Sale." You might have seen this event featured on TV. The "yard sale" stretches over 200 miles along Rt 127 through the state. It's for one weekend a year, and Ed Slawinski's wife found the vendor who had Shorty's treasures near Crossville during this event.
When I got back I told Ed what I'd found, or more accurately what I didn't find. Here's his response:
Dear Mickey Thompson, I am really sorry that I could not help very much. My wife is not a racing fan and just picked out about twelve books that Shorty had collected through the years. As you know paper collections should be respected by those who are left. I really don't know what will happen to mine as my children do not appear to be interested. I plan to contact some of my old racing buddies to make sure my things are cared for after the fact. E-bay is filled with these kinds of collections. My wife goes on these trips and we will keep looking. Chances are this collection is still together some place down there. I will keep your e-mail address and if I find something I will let you know. You went to the right area according to my wife. I will try to get a picture of the books and send it to you. Regards, Ed Slawinski,20405 St. Laurence Drive, Clinton Twp., Michigan , 48038 down4ce@aol.com
So here's what it comes down to: Shorty's collection is still out there, and still somewhat intact. There's a good chance that is it in the vicinity of Crossville, TN, just waiting to be discovered...and saved. In the meantime, we can rest assured that at least a dozen of Shorty's scrapbooks are in the hands and safe keeping of a real race fan like us, Ed Slawinski, a guy who appreciates the effort that Shorty put into the collection.
An amazing and unexpected development. My thanks to Ed in Michigan for triggering another fascinating adventure for yours truly!
Mickey
August 2008
Clay Beineke (beineke@hotmail.com) who is married to Shorty Miller's granddaughter has set the record straight with the following September 2008 e-mail. I appreciate Clay's assistance in getting the facts out to the many Shorty Miller fans in the FODS Nation.
Dear Sir, I am the husband of Shorty Miller's granddaughter. As a family we are disappointed in the account that you present regarding what happened to the collection of memorabilia that Shorty had. After Shorty passed away attempts were made over the course of more than a decade to find someone who would be interested in purchasing the the collection for preservation at a reasonable fair market value. When Shorty died suddenly, this collection was left to his widow, this was the only thing he left her. Several people were contacted, including the owner at the time of the Daytona racing museum, the Indianapolis Speedway museum, members of the Dayton Auto Racing Fan Club (DARF), as well as many individuals, including his widow and her daughter attending a driver/owner reunion in Winchester Indiana around 1996 looking for interested buyers.
The desire of the family was to keep the collection intact, and while many people were interested in individual items or pieces no one was willing to buy the collection in its entirety. Ultimately a buyer was found in 2005, a man who lives in Tennessee who was willing to take the entire collection.
While it is unfortunate to find the memorabilia being sold on the roadside at a yard sale there were many opportunities over nearly thirteen years for all of the people who are now bemoaning the loss of the collection to have stepped forward and saved it to be kept locally and in a manner that would have kept all of the local race fans happy! So when the gearheads of a certain age get together and wonder whatever became of the collection now they can have the answer and need only look in the mirror to know who let it get away.
We would appreciate it if you would contact us regarding questions surrounding Shorty. To correct the record that appears now, Shorty was not ill, he died suddenly while his wife was recovering from surgery at her daughters, and he had stopped shuttling his museum around from place to place as it had become too difficult to manage it alone and it was costing too much to maintain.
Clay Beineke