BRANDON MILLER GAMBLE PAYS OFF FOR KEY MOTORSPORTS
WITH 19TH PLACE FINISH IN #40 WESTERMAN COMPANY CHEVROLET

SPARTA, KENTUCKY (July 15, 2007) – The Key Motorsports gamble to keep rookie Brandon Miller in its race truck for Saturday night’s Built Ford Tough 250 at the Kentucky Speedway paid off as the San Diego, CA native drove the #40 Westerman Companies Chevrolet Silverado to a 19th place finish. It was Miller’s first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race since September of 2004.

“Brandon did a heck of a job for us tonight and we’re proud of him,” said crew chief Gary Showalter. “Tommy (Director of Competition Morgan) did a great job coaching Brandon and getting him to relax and be patient out there against some good competition. To complete all but one lap and finish in the top 20 with a race truck in one piece is a credit to Brandon’s ability,” Showalter added.

The 25-year-old Richard Childress Racing test driver was called into service by team owner Curtis W. Key, Sr. last Monday to practice the Westerman Companies Chevrolet Silverado in Kentucky on Friday with originally selected driver Chad Chaffin committed to his new NASCAR Nextel Cup Series obligation with BAM Racing at the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, IL.

Miller saw action in all three of Friday’s scheduled practices, one of which was for rookies only, and got better and more confident with every lap he turned. The result was a decision made by the Key Motorsports brain trust just minutes after the final practice to keep Miller in the seat for Saturday’s qualifying and the race rather than have Chaffin fly in to Kentucky just to race the truck.

Chaffin’s success in qualifying the #49 BAM Racing/PVA.org Dodge and putting it into the starting field for Sunday’s Nextel Cup race at Chicagoland would have prevented Chaffin from doing only that since his Happy Hour practice there would have conflicted with NCTS qualifying in Kentucky.

“It didn’t make a whole lot of sense to have Chad go through all of that trouble to get here to race our truck and to do start the race at the back of the field because we would have had to change drivers. Giving Brandon all of the responsibility allowed everyone on the team to work more with Brandon and build his confidence for the race that was to be is first in NASCAR competition of any type since 2005,” Morgan commented.

Miller first qualified his truck 28th in the 36-truck starting field despite his truck being very loose in the third turn on both of his qualifying laps. “I just drove the truck too hard into the third turn and it killed both of my laps because the truck was really good,” is what Miller would say after his timing session.

In the race, it was a much better story as Miller improved his position four spots within the race’s first four laps.

The #40 would never be shown worse that 25th on the scoring loop the rest of the night and even after going down a lap on the 44th circuit to then leader and eventual race winner Mike Skinner in a Toyota by lap 44, Miller and the entire Key Motorsports team worked diligently to put Miller in a position to get that lap back later in the race.

That happened on lap 64 when Jon Wood’s Ford spun in turn three to bring out the event’s fourth caution flag and with the #40 being the first truck a lap down and thus eligible for NASCAR’s Lucky Dog award.

It appeared to rejuvenate Miller and the entire Key Motorsports team as Brandon quickly moved into the top 20 by lap 70 and to as high as the 18th position by lap 84; racing side-by-side for laps on end at times with the trucks driven by the likes of veterans Dennis Setzer and Kenny Schrader, defending Series’ champion Todd Bodine, Tim Sauter and second-year driver Kraig Kinser.

Miller did eventually lose a lap for the second time just 20 laps from the end of the race and without the opportunity of getting this lap back, but did little dampen the spirits of Miller, his team and representatives of the organization’s new sponsor.

“I really want to thank everyone for giving me this opportunity and for working with me the way they did knowing that I had not raced competitively in the Craftsman Truck Series for a few years,” Miller explained.

“The truck did get a little loose on me in the early going and became a little tight towards the end there, but we made the right changes and had good pit stops. Tommy really had me working hard not to overdrive the truck in the corners, and even though I may have given a little away there because I tended to back off the throttle a little sooner than others, the engine we had was just ridiculous (very fast) and I could catch up to most everyone down the straightaway,” Miller said. “I would very much like to have the chance to race again for this team, and I can’t thank them enough for believing in me the way they did,” he added.

Key is expected to name his driver for the Indianapolis and Nashville races some time this coming week.

It was the first top 20 finish for Key Motorsports since Clay Rogers finished 16th in Mansfield, OH at the end of May and it came for the benefit of the Westerman Companies, the Bremen, Ohio company that will sponsor the Key Motorsports #40 truck in the next two races in Indianapolis and Nashville and in the fall race in Martinsville.

Westerman Companies manufactures equipment for the oil and gas industry, industrial tanks and pressure vessels and storage and transportation cylinders for the nuclear industry.