Brett Miller enjoys a slim lead after the first of two preliminary rounds in the $25,000 North America Drivers Championship currently being contested at Miami Valley Raceway.
The native Ohioan, who plans to return to the Buckeye State for the 2019 season, accumulated 75 points with a win, a second, a third and a fourth-place finish in his four drives. Randy Tharps, who scored the only driving double on the day, sits second with 72 points.
Following Miller and Tharps on the leaderboard are Shawn Gray (63), Aaron Merriman (57), Jeremy Smith (55), Sam Widger (55), Joe Bongiorno (54), Chris Page (53), Pat Berry (50) and Drew Monti (49).
All but one of the top ten drivers recorded a win, which is worth 30 points, in the competition. Mike Oosting (47) and J Bradley Harris (40) also scored wins on the card. Shawn Gray did not reach the winner’s circle, but benefited from three runner-up finishes worth 20 points each.
Win mutuels in the spirited contest ranged from $3.60 to $40.20 with an average payoff of $13.00.
The drivers will compete in a second prelim on Monday afternoon. The top 10 in the standings following Monday's card will advance to the Championship Round on Tuesday when they will compete head-to-head in eight races to determine who wins the trophy, the title and the $10,000 first prize.
The featured $27,500 Open Handicap Trot was captured by the day’s longest shot, The Next Triumph, scoring in 1:56 with Brett Miller driving over fellow longshots Monopoly Blue Chip (Billy Davis Jr.) and Flight Of The Kiwi (Chris Page).
In addition to the $40.20 win price, the exacta paid $523 while a 50-cent trifecta returned $2,117.50.
Round Two of the North America Drivers Championship begins on Monday, Jan. 7 at 2:05 p.m.
(With files from Miami Valley Raceway)