Greg Miller...Gone Too Soon
/It is with great sadness that I am typing this right now. This morning at about 3 am I found out that Greg Miller has succumbed to illness after being in the hospital for the last month or so.
I know that most of our readers come to us for news about the drag racing community, but Greg was a part of the other side of the industry. He was a legendary promoter of events on the custom car show side of the motorsports industry. Show’s that Greg put on included Scrapin’ The Coast & Orange Beach Invasion. In my opinion, two of the best shows that I have ever attended outside of the first ever Lowrider Magazine Supershow in Chicago.
So many of us know Promoters like Donald Long, Mike Hill, Monty Mikho, Tyler Crossnoe, Brandon Lecroy, Keith Haney, and the list goes on and on. We have talked about who would be on the Mount Rushmore of drag racing promoters and why. Well, if there were a Mount Rushmore for custom car show promoters, it would be impossible to have it without Greg Miller being on it.
If you wonder how much Greg was loved and appreciated in the industry, you need look no further than his Facebook account to see the condolences just pouring in. A huge amount of support from fans, participants, friends, and so many more. The stories being shared about his kindness is something that shows how he cared about more than just his shows and the cars. Greg truly cared about people, and the people that came to his shows.
I have had the privilege of covering a few of Greg’s shows, most recently, Scrapin’ The Coast in Biloxi, Mississippi just a couple of weeks ago. As usual, the show was massive. Greg was already in the hospital at the time, but the outpouring of support for the show was mind boggling. Even in his absence, people filled the event to support the community, the show, and the custom automotive industry.
My first interaction with Greg was two years ago when I decided to come back to the custom car scene and car audio scene after being away for 20 years. I had messaged him about getting media credentials to cover Scrapin’ The Coast in 2019. When I arrived I was taken aback by the massive size and scale of the event. Only once before had I ever been to a show so big, and that was the aforementioned Lowrider Magazine Chicago Supershow in the 90’s. After I got into the building I headed to where Greg was to get my wristband credentials. Dressed in pink as I usually am at every event I cover, I walked into the room and found Greg. Immediately I went to introduce myself and shake his hand. As I started to introduce myself to him, he looked at me and said “I know who you are” and he smiled and thanked me for coming to the event.
This year at Orange Beach Invasion I had the opportunity to chat with Greg about the show numerous times. Every time he saw me walking around he’d ask how I was doing. In all my time in the motorsports industry there have been few promoters that are as well loved and well respected as Greg was. He will be sorely missed, and I hope that his partners with these events carry on the legacy that Greg his built and left to all of us. That is exactly what he would have wanted and expected.
RIP Greg Miller! Fly high and roll low!