Juha Miettinen
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
Absolute Zero Motorsport mourns the tragic passing of Finnish racing driver Juha Miettinen. He lost his life as a result of a seven-car crash at the famous, and somewhat infamous, Nürburgring. Despite all the advancements in safety over the decades, motorsport will always have an element of danger and unfortunately this means the sport we all love occasionally takes a life from us. The six other drivers involved were all injured but have survived.
We don't want to dwell on the negative, but instead honor him with a look at the life he lived. While not a household name, Juha Miettinen was respected amongst the endurance racing community. Earlier in his life he was a professional driver, and he was committed to grassroots endurance racing. His career revolved nearly entirely around the Nürburgring Nordschleife, which is legendary among motorsport and automotive enthusiasts.
Miettinen was a frequent competitor in the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS), which is unique for pitting amateur drivers against professionals on the same track at the same time. He was a consistent front-runner in his class, with many podium finishes to his credit. He is known for driving a BMW 325i (V4 class), which is a production-based car requiring great technical precision to be quick around the Nordschleife.
Being that we are all about motorsports, of course we focus on his driving, and it was his passion for the Nürburgring that took him from us, but we would be remiss if we failed to note his other accomplishments. Prior to racing, he was a successful soccer athlete. He had moved to the United States and played for Campbell University in the 1980s, scoring many points, earning All-American honors, and being named Big South Player in 1988. After college he played professional indoor soccer in the National Indoor Soccer League (NISL), where he was named Rookie of the Year in 1995 and was the top scorer for three consecutive seasons. He was inducted into the Campbell University Hall of Fame in 2009 and into the Big South Conference Hall of Fame in 2018.
66 years old, Juha Miettinen was pretty old for a racing driver and yet was still at it. He raced as a "gentleman driver", meaning that he had the talent but didn't have a professional seat. He was admired for his commitment to the sport, for his longevity, and for his willingness to compete in even 24-hour races at an age where most people are looking at settling down into a rocking chain on the front porch.
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