Clint Miller 1 (born April 29, 1962, in
Pomona, California
Pomona ( ) is a city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population was ...
U.S.
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...
) is a former American "Old School" professional
Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1976 to 1984.
A popular nickname given to him was "Miller Time", particular after a win. "Miller Time" was a play on his name that happened to invoke a popular 1970's
advertising campaign
An advertising campaign or marketing campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). An IMC is a platform in which a group of people can group their ide ...
slogan by the makers of Miller Beer, the
Miller Brewing Company
The Miller Brewing Company is an American brewery and beer company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was founded in 1855 by Frederick Miller. Molson Coors acquired the full global brand portfolio of Miller Brewing Company in 2016, and operates the ...
to indicate to the consumer that after a hard task at work or play that it was "Miller Time", a "..time to relax.."
Racing career milestones
Note: Professional first are on the national level unless otherwise indicated.
Started Racing: In early 1975 at 13 years old at the Covina Valley BMX track in
Covina, California
Covina ( /koviːnə/) is a city in the San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles
The population was 51,268 according to the 2020 census, up from 47,796 at the 2010 census. ...
.
Sanctioning Body: Unsanctioned.
First race result: Did not make main in 12 boys class.
First win (local):
First sponsor: Jim Melton Cyclery, Mid November 1976.
[''BMX Plus!'' June 1982 Vol.5 No.6 pg.29]
First national win: In 14 Novice at the 1976
National Bicycle Association
The National Bicycle Association (NBA), later known as the National Bicycle Motocross Association (NbmxA), was a United States–based BMX, Bicycle Motocross (BMX) sports Sports governing body, sanctioning body originally based in Soledad, Californ ...
(NBA) Grand Nationals in
East Irvine, California on November 28, 1976.
[
Turned Professional: 1978 at 15 years of age.][
First Professional race result: First Place at Covina Valley in 1977. He won US$17 It was a local race.][
First Professional* win: See above.
Retired from Senior pro racing: Early 1986 age 24.
Height & weight at height of his career (1983): Ht: 5'6.25" Wt:~ 155 lbs.
*At the start of his pro career, there wasn't a two tier system of Junior and Senior Pros, therefore his first pro race and/or win was his first in Senior pro.
]
Career factory and major bike shop sponsors
Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors. At any given time a racer could have numerous co-sponsors. Primary sponsorships can be verified by BMX press coverage and sponsor's advertisements at the time in question. When possible exact dates are given.
Amateur
*JMC (Jim Melton Cyclery) Racing Equipment: Mid November 1976-June 1978. Clint Miller would turn professional with this sponsor.
Professional
*JMC Racing Equipment: Mid November 1976-June 1978
*D.G. Performance Specialties (The initials stood for ''D''an Hangsleben, ''G''ary Harlow): June 1978-December 1978
*GJS So. Cal (The initials stood for ''G''eorge ''J''eff and ''S''cott Utterback): December 1978-December 1979. The initials were for the first name of the Jeff Utterback's father, Jeff Utterback the famous racer himself, and his younger brother.
*Torker BMX Racing Products: Late December 1979-December 1982
*Kuwahara Cycles, Ltd.: January 1983-September 1984. Clint left Kuwahara after it disbanded its BMX team effort due to financial difficulties. "Kuwahara" is Japanese for Mulberry Meadows. The company is named after Sentaro Kuwahara who founded the company in 1916 in Osaka, Japan
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third-most populous city in Japan, following the special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a populatio ...
.
*Cycle Pro/GHP (Greg Hill Products): September 1984-December 1984. With CyclePro discontinuing its relationship with GHP (during its first incarnation) Clint Miller was dropped from the team for financial reasons. Clint quietly retired from BMX competition after April 1985 but came back after receiving an offer from CW Racing.
*CW (Custom Works) Racing: October 1985-Early 1986 After leaving GHP he had actually quietly retired after April 1985 (after the NBL national in Gardena, California
Gardena is a city located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 61,027 at the 2020 census, up from 58,829 at the 2010 census. Until 2014, the U.S. census cited the City of Gardena as the ...
), never intending to race again. Then he got the call from CW Racing. They were looking for a pro to replace the departing Pete Loncarevich who was leaving CW for Haro Designs in April 1986. He was retired for six months after being dropped by GHP and by the time CW called. However, his comeback did not last long and he retired permanently in early 1986.
Amateur
*DirtWerx: 1995. He had himself reclassified an amateur after a 10-year absence from BMX. As late as mid-1997 he was racing in the 35-39 cruiser class of the NBL, racing the NBL Bear Nationals on May 10, 1997.
Career bicycle motocross titles
Note: Listed are District, State/Provincial/Department, Regional, National, and International titles in ''italics''. "Defunct" refers to the fact of that sanctioning body in question no longer existing at the start of the racer's career or at that stage of his/her career. Depending on point totals of individual racers, winners of Grand Nationals do not necessarily win National titles. Series and one off Championships are also listed in block.
Amateur
National Bicycle Association (NBA)
*1976 14 Novice Grandnational Champion
National Bicycle League (NBL)
*None
American Bicycle Association (ABA)
*None
International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)
*None
Professional
National Bicycle Association
The National Bicycle Association (NBA), later known as the National Bicycle Motocross Association (NbmxA), was a United States–based BMX, Bicycle Motocross (BMX) sports Sports governing body, sanctioning body originally based in Soledad, Californ ...
(NBA)
*None
National Bicycle League (NBL)
*1980 Pro Money and Pro Trophy Third Place Jag World Champion
American Bicycle Association
The American Bicycle Association (ABA) was a US-based BMX racing governing body in Gilbert, Arizona. In 2011, the ABA merged with the former National Bicycle League and became the present-day USA BMX: The American Bicycle Association. The ABA wa ...
(ABA)
*None
United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA)
*1984 Pro Cruiser National No.3
International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)
*1983 Pro World Champion
Pro Series Championships and Invitationals
*1981 Anglo-American Challenge Invitational Champion (United Kingdom BMX Association (UKBMXA) and IBMXF sanctioned). This was basically an exhibition race held in Redditch, England
Redditch is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Worcestershire, England. It is located south of Birmingham, east of Bromsgrove, north-west of Alcester and north-east of Worcester, En ...
on May 3, 1981, to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the founding of BMX in England. There was no pro class. Miller won the 16 and over amateur trophy dash to gain the title. This was the very first international race sanctioned by the IBMXF.
*1984 Qantas BMX Titles Australian Champion
Notable accolades
*Clint Miller is a 2005 ABA BMX Hall of Fame Inductee
Significant injuries
*Broke thumb at the 1983 ABA Great Lakes National in Lapeer, Michigan
Lapeer ( ') is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is the county seat of Lapeer County. As of the 2020 census, the city population was . Most of the city was incorporated from land that was formerly in Lapeer Township, though portions were ...
during practice.[''Bicycles and Dirt'' November 1983 Vol.2 No.2 pg.33]
Racing habits and traits
Post BMX career
He still races both BMX and MX occasionally but can be found mostly racing MX as a past time.
BMX press magazine interviews and articles
*"Torker Team" ''BMX Plus!'' May 1980 Vol.3 No.5 pg.20 Joint interview with Eddy & Mike King, Mike Agueilera, and Jason Jensen; his teammates on the Torker BMX racing team.
*"Clint:"''Total BMX'' September 1981 Vol.2 No.4 pg.14
*"Clint Miller" ''Bicycle Motocross Action'' September 1981 Vol.6 No.9 pg.39 Short sidebar article concerning his Cruiser.
*"Clint Miller ''BMX Plus!'' June 1982 Vol.5 No.5 pg.29
*"Clint Miller's Training Program" June 1983 Vol.8 No.6 pg.23 Miller discuss his exercise, training and diet program.
*"Training Your Brain with Hypnosis" ''BMX Action'' April 1984 Vol.9 No.4 pg.58 Article about self hypnosis to better focus the mind psychologically for racing Clint Miller contributed to.
*"BMXer On The Go" ''Super BMX'' June 1984 Vol.11 No.6 pg.24
*"Five Minutes with Clint" ''BMX Action'' September 1984 Vol.9 No.9 pg.31
*"Interview: The Businessmen" ''BMX Action'' April 1985 Vol.10 No.4 pg.53 Joint interview with Greg Hill.
*"Clint's Back!"''Super BMX & Freestyle'' January 1986 Vol.13 No.1 pg.49
BMX magazine covers
''Bicycle Motocross News:''
*None
''Minicycle/BMX Action'' & ''Super BMX:''
*January 1986 Vol.13 No.1 In insert freestyler Tony Murry. (SBMX)
*On the cover of the ''Super BMX'' 1983 BMX World Championship Special Edition
''Bicycle Motocross Action'' & ''Go:''
*January/February 1979 Vol.4 No.1 (BMXA)
*May 1982 Vol.7 No.5 behind Scott Clark, Harry Leary and ahead of Denny Davidow, Greg Grubbs and Tinker Juarez. (BMXA)
*June 1982 Vol.7 No.6 with Brent Patterson. (BMXA)
*February 1983 Vol.8 No.2 (BMXA)
*August 1983 Vol.8 No.8 with Harry Leary in first place and behind Brian Patterson. (BMXA)
*''"BMX World Championship Special Edition"'' Winter 1983 Special edition published by ''Super BMX'' reporting in detail the IBMXF BMX World Championships. In the centerfold he is posing with fellow racer Ron House and child actress Heather O'Rourke.
''BMX Plus!:''
*December 1979 Vol.2 No.11* (103X) ahead of Stu Thomsen
Stuart L. Thomsen (born May 20, 1958, in Whittier, California) is an American former bicycle motocross (BMX) racer.
Stu Thomsen was one of the first of the "Old School" of professional BMX racers who gained fame in the early days of the sport ...
in second place (far right) and ahead of an obscured Jeff Kosmola who was in third place behind Thomsen. Jeff Bottema is in fourth place to the far left.
*May 1982 Vol.5 No.5
*September 1983 Vol.6 No.8** behind Stu Thomsen
Stuart L. Thomsen (born May 20, 1958, in Whittier, California) is an American former bicycle motocross (BMX) racer.
Stu Thomsen was one of the first of the "Old School" of professional BMX racers who gained fame in the early days of the sport ...
& Brent Patterson.
*March 1984 Vol.7 No.3 with Brian Patterson.
*August 1984 Vol.7 No.8 in inset. In separate insets Toby Henderson, Mike Miranda and freestyler Woody Itson.
* The publisher skipped a month in 1979
**Due to a change of ownership ''BMX Plus!'' did not publish a May 1983 issue.
''Total BMX:''
''Bicycles and Dirt:''
*January 1984 Vol.2 No.4 Just inside of the frame on the left. Pete Loncarevich (A) is the subject of the image. An unidentified racer is behind Loncarevich.
''BMX Biker Monthly'' (British publication):
*1983 Issue No.1
''BMX Action Bike'' (British publication):
*October 1983 Vol.1 Iss.12
''NBA World'' & ''NBmxA World'' (The official NBA/NBmxA membership publication):
''Bicycles Today & BMX Today'' (The official NBL membership publication under two names):
''ABA Action, American BMXer, BMXer'' (The official ABA membership publication. Three different names over the years, same publication):
*January/February 1984 Vol.7 No.1
''USBA Racer'' (The official USBA membership publication):
Notes
External links
The American Bicycle Association (ABA) Website.
The National Bicycle League (NBL) Website.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Clint
Living people
American male cyclists
American BMX riders
1962 births
20th-century American sportsmen