Former desert racer Chuck Miller may be a new face in the AMA Superbike paddock --he'll replace longtime racing manager Gary Mathers when Mathers retires this spring--but he's seen his share of checkered flags and victory podiums, albeit most of those through the Mexican dust.

Miller, a spry and enthusiastic 40-something, is a four-time overall winner of the Baja 500 and 1000, and is in the enviable position of inheriting the well-run Honda race program. Miller will oversee all areas of Honda's US racing operations, meaning in three years he'll be a rich man--if frequent flier miles were dollars.

"It's an easy job since we already have the key people in place," Miller says with a smile, downplaying his role in one of the most prestigious posts in racing. "I'm just helping guide the ship, that's all." Miller will lead both the roadrace and motocross efforts for Honda.

What are Miller's impressions on replacing Mathers? He thinks for a second and says the obvious: "Huge shoes to fill. I'm so lucky to have been able to work under him since April and I'm gonna get to at least until February. I'd love for him to stay on for another year so I can absorb as much as I can," Miller said. Mathers' record in Superbike racing is unmatched, he's guided Honda to at least six Superbike titles, Supersport titles and more. And that's just at Honda. At Kawasaki he hired Wayne Rainey, and helped groom Eddie Lawson. Perhaps larger than that, he brought Rob Muzzy to Superbike racing.

Miller reflects on Mathers: "Arguably the most successful manager in racing, he has so much knowledge and a keen insight on what's going to happen before it happens. When I first started, I got to know Gary, and I didn't quite understand how he could have an answer before it happened," Miller explains. 

"But know that I've been working with him, there's been numerous occasions when a situation arose and he commented on what the outcome would be. Me, my naive self, is going ‘No, it's not gonna be like that, it's going to be different’. And sure enough, it's always like Gary says." Not bad for a former snowmobile race team manager and trucking company exec from Minnesota (Mathers).

"He has really been part of the success in Honda racing, in all of our victories in motocross and roadracing. It's going to take everybody on our team to help fill that void," Miller said.

Miller has worked for Honda since 1984, working first as an ATV race team technician. He has a calm demeanor and an affable manner, but certainly the heart of a racer lurks within. Chuck also won a gold medal at the International Six Days Endurance event in 1986, and proving he can still go fast in the dust, he raced a XR650R in this year's Baja 2000 race. 

Despite being a "Legends" entry, Miller and his partner finished a close second overall to another Honda, and beat all the nerds in trucks to the line.

However, Miller doesn't believe his experiences on the track (or dirt in his case), will help him run the Honda team. "You know, I don't think (being a former racer helps) in managing. Being a racer doesn't have as much to do with it as people might think. It's more to do with managing people and time and budgets and critical situations as they arise."

Miller suffered from "sticker shock" when he first saw the costs of a modern Superbike racing program where the fuel bill for Daytona could probably fund the entire Baja effort for Honda. Miller expounds, "Well...coming from an off-road background, all I can say is ‘Omigod!’," laughs Miller.

"Yeah, it's a lot of money, but we get a lot of exposure for that money," he explains. "That's why you see a lot of outside sponsors getting involved, not only so they can get exposure, but so they can offset some of the costs of racing because they've grown dramatically in the past five years."

Miller sees Honda's new sponsor, Universal Studios, as an example of how Superbike racing should be marketed. Not only does Honda get exposure to bike buying public, but the brand and the sport are presented to a wider audience as well. "Universal is going to be a great partnership for Honda. We can use each other's strengths in marketing, and that's what the goal is. To market each other's products. Our name, our riders, our race team, versus Universal's ability to promote aftermarket games and toys and things like that. They have all the right outlets around the country to do that. They've proved to be successful in the past, and we look forward to a long relationship with them."

Miller's arrival is also marked by a third Superbike rider in the person of Kurtis Roberts, and hiring of key support personnel to help the youngest Roberts along. Miller expects Honda's program to change very little, however. "It's gonna stay basically the same. We have Merlyn Plumlee and Ray Plumb, who are our two crewchiefs, who oversee Nicky and Kurtis and Miguel. We've added three new technicians on the roadrace side, Dave McGrath, Bob Rachtman, and Darren. Bob and David are gonna do Kurtis' bike, and Darren is our new data acquisition person."

A full-time data person on the team is a first for Honda in the US. "With all the bikes having data acquisition, we're starting to see the benefits from that, and we feel it's time to put somebody on full-time to just do that, to communicate that information of whatever the bikes saying to the technicians and then to the riders," Miller states. "The riders are starting to get more and more interested in how they can use it to their advantage. Darren will be a big help in that area."

While Miller may be relatively new to the roadrace paddock, he knows Honda's rivals won't grant him a grace period to get up to speed. Miller has a plethora of racing experience to fall back on, as well as the engineering might of HRC, a seasoned crew and the special skills of Roberts, DuHamel, and Hayden. 

He'll do just fine.

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