Joe Miller’s entry into the motorsports world has an unusual genesis. In high school Miller got into some trouble for street drag racing, but was able to make a deal with the local judge. He agreed to create a legal drag racing program for students with a series of rules to let fellow students compete in motorsports, taking the drag racing in that area off the street and onto the track. Later Miller would serve in the U.S. Army, and after he left the service, he entered the world of monster trucks as a crew member. His first opportunity to get behind the wheel and drive in an Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam competition came when Jim Creten gave him the reigns to his Iron Outlaw truck. After some impressive runs Miller eventually landed the coveted seat in one of the Monster Mutt trucks. 

Q&A with Driver  

MonsterJam.com: How did you get started competing on the Monster Jam circuit? 

Joe Miller:  Through the drag racing program we had set up at my high school things started getting bigger and bigger, we started branching out into mud bogs and tough trucks, things like that. The first time a monster truck came out I just started to get involved with that. So I started crewing on different trucks in Wisconsin. The first truck I ever drove was called Jail Break for Hurley Motorsports in Wisconsin. Then I drove for Mitch Taluchka in Get er Done, after that I started crewing for Jimmy Creten. A few weeks later he hired me full time and I started driving Iron Outlaw for him. That started when I was the Crew Chief for Iron Outlaw and  a few times when Kreg Christensen was unavailable I jumped in and drove it, that was my first driving experience. When Kreg took the ride with Max-D I took over as the Iron Outlaw driver for a year.  

MonsterJam.com: What do you enjoy doing while on the road with Monster Jam? 

Joe Miller:  I like the organization of the Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam circuit. Everything is so well organized, they run the events at such a high level and at a high tempo and they put so many people in the seats. The way I look at it is, if I’m going to spend the weekend away from my family then it has to be worthwhile, and it is. The crowds are so loud, so fun, it really gets me amped up. 

MonsterJam.com: What do you do with your free time? 

Joe Miller:  I have a full time job and I go to school for criminal science. I’m a fabricator right now during the week so I have two different worlds going on. I got all of the schooling done for fabrication, now I’m going to get my Associates Degree in Criminal Science.  

MonsterJam.com: What is your greatest memory as a monster truck driver? 

Joe Miller:  I remember at one of the first shows I did, right off the bat I caught some massive air. I think they timed it that I was up in the air for three and a half seconds. That may not sound like a long time but when you are up in the air in a monster truck, that is a long time. I remember that I was up there so long that I had time to look around and check out the crowd a little bit before I landed. That’s still the most memorable moment for me.  

MonsterJam.com: Do you have any pre-show rituals that you run though? 

Joe Miller:  I do have a sequence as to how I set my truck up. How I put on my belts. Then I always put my steering wheel on first, and then my gloves go on last. Usually I get these jitters so I just walk the track and get as ready as possible, then when I hit that mag the jitters are gone and I’m ready to go. 

MonsterJam.com: If you were not competing on the Monster Jam tour, what career path would you follow?  

Joe Miller:  Right now I’ve got so much going on. Going back to my days in the military I was an Army Sniper, in Ranger School, you name it I did it, but that took its toll on my body. I was 25 when I got out of that and my knees already couldn’t handle all of that jumping out of airplanes any more. Then the military career that I had led me into criminal science. I’ve become very good a fabricating, that just came as a natural thing for me. So for me it would be in criminal science, maybe a Forensic Biologist, or being a fabricator. 

MonsterJam.com: What’s your favorite food? 

Joe Miller: My girlfriend’s homemade lasagna. 

MonsterJam.com: What’s your favorite movie? 

Joe Miller:  Pure Country – I’m a George Strait fanatic 

MonsterJam.com: What’s your favorite television show? 

Joe Miller:  Anything on the History Channel.  

MonsterJam.com: What’s your favorite color?  

Joe Miller:  Metallic Blue 

TRUCK INFO 

Truck Name: Monster Mutt 

Body:  51 Merc chopped 

Engine size: 540 CI  

Sponsors:  Advance Auto Parts, Arsenault Associates, ARP Automotive Products, Auto Meter, Awesome Racewear, Cam 2 Racing Oil, Coan, Crower Racing Products, Derale Performance, Energy Suspension, Fel-Pro Performance Gaskets, FK Rod Ends, Hawk Performance, Jaz Products, K & N Filters, King Engine Bearings, Lincoln Welders, Liquid Advanced Technology, Magnaflow Performance, Mechanix Wear, MSD Ignition, NGK Spark Plugs, Optima Batteries, Piloti, TX7, Powermaster, Rockford Rosgate, Speed Pro, Universal Technical Institute, Walker Radiator Works, WISECO, World Products