IMSA: Bryce Miller to focus on enduros next year

Bryce Miller will shift from full-time Paul Miller Racing driver to endurance-race specialist commencing with the 2015 racing season, opening the door for an all-new driver lineup for the team's winning No. 48 Audi R8 LMS program next season.

Starting next year, Bryce Miller will participate in longer endurance races only – such as the Rolex 24 At Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans – in order to have more time to focus on his management role in the Paul Miller Auto Group. The dealership group has included since 1976 Paul Miller Audi, one of the largest Audi dealerships in the nation, which made Paul Miller Racing's switch to the Audi R8 LMS program this season that much easier.

"I am certainly not retiring from racing but our growth at the Paul Miller Auto Group, and my desire to learn more about our 'other family business' makes it the right time to make this move" Bryce Miller said. "Knowing that I will still compete in endurance races in our Audi will make it easier but it will still seem a little strange when the first sprint races come after Daytona and Sebring and I will be watching on television at home."

Earlier this month, Bryce joined his Paul Miller Racing teammates Christopher Haase and Matt Bell for a convincing win in the season-ending Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. The victory was the first for Audi in the IMSA TUDOR Championship, and the team and all three drivers in a major North American endurance race.

Bryce Miller also has multiple runner-up finishes in the Rolex 24 as well as a great deal of sprint-race success in ALMS, Grand-Am and the IMSA TUDOR Championship. In addition to the Petit victory, his 2014 season included runner-up results at Laguna Seca and Indianapolis and third at Detroit, all co-driving with Haase.

"This change will certainly bring a new dynamic to the team and, frankly, will probably be a little strange at first for both me and Bryce, but he will still fill a key role in endurance races as he has for so many years," Paul Miller said. "Our next step is to find a full-season replacement for Bryce, which sure won't be easy, but it is something we want to wrap up as soon as possible."