One particularly spiteful journalist asked how he could “have the gall” to stand on the podium to accept his award when so few cars were entered in the B-Series? Miller drove Indy Lights in 1993, where he won a B-Series championship title against a modest field of competitors. The criticism leveled against him by several journalists could be more accurately classified as defamation of character or libel.
Here was a man who had taken more public criticism than anyone I’d ever known. He soon became known for throwing samples of toothpaste into the grandstands, and his Crest-sponsored machine was one of the most recognizable cars in the series. Instead, he had put together every sponsor deal himself with hundreds of phone calls while wading through one rejected proposal after another. He hadn’t hired a marketing firm to craft his racing career. Dentistry was to be his second career, later in life! Jack ordered a hamburger and fries and began explaining that he had no intention of going into immediate, full-time dental work. I just called him up and asked about having lunch. There was no marketing agency, personal assistant or PR rep involved. I had suggested we have lunch so I could ask about his business deals and get a fresh perspective on how an ordinary guy gets to the Indy 500. Although we had spoken several times at the Speedway, we were really just passing acquaintances. Jack Miller, right, and I sat down for lunch at a crowded restaurant on the west side of Indianapolis, just minutes from the world famous 2½ mile oval.
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