Robin Miller (journalist)

Robin Lee Miller (October 27, 1949 – August 25, 2021) was an American motorsports journalist.

Miller first visited the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1957, and attended his first Indianapolis 500 in 1959.

Miller was best known for being a writer at The Indianapolis Star from 1968–2001.

He also wrote for Autoweek, Car and Driver, ESPN and Speed.

At the time of his death, he was a correspondent and senior writer for RACER magazine and website, while also reporting on IndyCar Series broadcasts for NBCSN.

In 1968, at the age of 18, he got to "stooge" for his driving hero Jim Hurtubise at Indy.

Miller was hired for free to do odd jobs with the pit crew, but was fired before the end of the month after he ruined the paint job on Hurtubise's car.

Miller became friends with chief mechanic Bill Finley, and driver Art Pollard.

Miller was hired at The Indianapolis Star in 1968.

His first duties included answering telephones in the sports department.

A year later, he was moved into the sports department as a writer.

One of his early assignments was a traveling reporter following the Indiana Pacers.

During his career, he became a polarizing figure.

He started covering the Indianapolis 500 in 1969.

During the month of May for the Indy 500, in addition to his daily columns, Miller would have side gigs on WNAP-FM, WIBC, WTHR, and The Bob & Tom Show.

From 1971–78 (concurrent to his work with The Star), Miller began working on pit crews at the Indianapolis 500.

It was common during that time for racing teams to hire extra freelance help for the Indy 500 due to the extended (month-long) work commitment.

He was assigned to various jobs, such as the pit board and vent man, but never worked mechanically on the cars.

Finley, one of the last true chief mechanics at Indianapolis, described Miller as "without a mechanical bone in his body."

In 1972, he bought his first race car, from Andy Granatelli.

He raced a Formula Ford in 1972, and then bought a midget car in 1974 from Gary Bettenhausen.

He then competed in USAC midgets from 1975–83.

In almost every year from 1978 to 1997, he served as the emcee of the popular Last Row Party.

Miller also wrote and reported occasionally about NASCAR, including extensive coverage of the Brickyard 400.

Miller's best race came in 1980 when he qualified 5th out of 93 cars for the annual "Hut 100" at the Terre Haute Action Track, a dirt race that featured 33 starters in 11 rows of three like Indy and also sported several top Indy drivers of the time.

He considered that race the highlight of his career, however, he blew his engine and dropped out.

After about ten years, he quit driving due to his lack of mechanical knowledge, and massive debts.

In 1981, he gained attention when he accused A. J. Foyt of cheating, for which Foyt punched Miller, and the paper issued a retraction.

Miller also stirred up controversy, taking on Bobby Knight, the Irsay family, girls' basketball, and female golfers.

One of his heated columns led to the girls' basketball team from Franklin College challenging the paper's sports department to a match, and the sportswriters won the game.

Miller worked for 33 years at The Indianapolis Star, becoming one of the nation's best known sports writers for Indy car racing.

Following the 1996 open wheel split, Miller was highly critical of the Indy Racing League and Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Tony George.

For this, he drew considerable ire from many locals and from various city leaders, but likewise gained a considerable following from CART supporters.

However, he typically stopped short of directly criticizing most of the actual IRL drivers and crew members, explaining that most were hard-working and passionate about their sport, and merely intermixed in a political situation that was largely out of their control.

He lost his radio show on WIBC and television job at Channel 13 for his anti-George stance.

Eventually, after the department reorganized, Miller's duties shifted from columnist to focus solely on auto racing.

In January 2001, Miller was fired from the Star.

The reasons given for his release were violations of the company's e-mail policy as well as the ethics policy.

He reportedly sent abusive e-mails to readers, sent pornographic material to co-workers, and sent defamatory e-mails about local community leaders (namely Tony George and Colts officials).

He also was charged with accepting $2,500 from Kenny Bräck for work on his web site (Miller claims he never received the money ), and being paid to write promotional material for CART, which violated company policy.