The odd man out from the 1999 Sensational Adelaide 500 field

THIS year’s VAILO Adelaide 500 in November will include a significant celebration of the 25th anniversary of the inaugural Adelaide 500 with a range of drivers that competed in the 1999 race on hand.

 

 

But of the 40 drivers to practice and qualify for that very first Sensational Adelaide 500, there’s one that never made the grid to race on either day.

 

 

While the big names including Craig Lowndes, Greg Murphy, Mark Skaife and Glenn Seton were racing at the front of the field, one driver was left to sit on the sidelines.

 

 

Western Australian privateer racer Daniel Miller could do nothing but watch 39 other racers drive into the history books as the first crop of drivers to compete in the Adelaide 500, an event that now sits in the Supercars Hall of Fame.

 

 

A privateer who was making his first appearance in V8 Supercars after a few years racing Street Cars in his home state, Miller’s father had bought an ex-Bill O’Brien Commodore, an older model VS in which to take the step up into the ‘big league’.

 

 

The 1999 Sensational Adelaide 500 was set to be Miller’s debut round in what was then known as the Shell Championship Series – now known as the Repco Supercars Championship.

 

 

But after competing in practice in Adelaide, the #84 Commodore lasted just four slow laps in qualifying, gearbox failure sidelining Miller from setting a fast time.

 

 

Even worse, the damage was enough to sideline both car and driver for the rest of the weekend. Miller never again returned to compete in the Adelaide 500.

 

 

“I remember how scary that track was, all those concrete walls, it was eye-opening, that’s for sure!” Miller says today.

 

 

“From memory, the gearbox kept jumping out of gear and I ended up with a blister trying to hold it in gear. It would just flick from one gear to the next so I was forced to hold it in gear. I remember having a big blister in my palm!

 

 

“We were so disappointed. I took all the team blokes out and we had too much to drink and I missed the driver’s photo shoot the next morning! I turned up five or 10 minutes late, so that’s why I’m not in the photo with all of the drivers.”

 

 

Miller had to wait until the following month to finally take part in his first championship race on his home track at Wanneroo in Western Australia.

 

 

He raced at further V8 Supercar rounds across the country in 1999, including Hidden Valley in Darwin, the Queensland 500 near Ipswich and the Bathurst 1000.

 

 

The West Aussie spent 2000 and 2001 competing in the Konica V8 Supercar Series (now Super2) in the same Commodore that had missed the Adelaide 500.

 

 

His last appearance in a V8 Supercar came in the Konica non-points paying race at Bathurst in October 2001, before his family couldn’t continue to fund the racing and the car was eventually sold.

 

 

Miller never returned to attempt the Adelaide 500 and the record book shows him as the only driver in the inaugural 1999 field to be listed as ‘DNS’ (Did Not Start) for both legs of that year’s, single 156 lap race held over two days.

 

 

Thesedays, Miller is still based in Western Australia. His racing days are over, but he still dabbles with off road vehicles, quad bikes and go karts for fun.

 

 

He’ll indeed forever hold a unique place in the history books of the Adelaide 500.