BRISTOL TRUCK RACE CRITICAL FOR MILLER AND KEY MOTORSPORTS

Rookie driver Brandon Miller has seen his performances fall off a bit since taking over the driver’s chair for Key Motorsports in the #40 Chevrolet Silverado in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Despite this, the #40 team has improved in the owner point’s battle, so the upcoming O’Reilly 200 race at the highly competitive Bristol Motor Speedway is a critical one in the progress of both.

Miller first took over the Key Motorsports ride at the Kentucky Speedway and drove his way to a respectable 19th place finish despite being ordered to run conservatively and with a lot of patience. Following outings at Indianapolis and Nashville in which Miller produced finishes of 23rd and 25th, the Orange, California native is still trying to get used to the race trucks, his new team and in some cases the race track. (picture right: Driver Brandon Miller working on his seat belts in Bristol race truck.)

“Brandon has done a good job for us, and it’s just going to take a little more time for him to get comfortable enough to start racing harder and display the talent and skills we know he has,” said crew chief Gary Showalter. “You have to pretty much throw out the Nashville race because we just didn’t give Brandon the effort he needed as a team, and that was really frustrating,” added Showalter, alluding to the outing in which Miller only had about 15 practice laps in getting ready for the race after a broken engine part late in the first of three practice sessions required an engine change.

“As a team, we are also getting more used to Brandon and his driving style, and once we hit that plateau where we give him good equipment to drive and the confidence level is there for everyone, I think you’re going to see the #40 running closer to the front,” Showalter stated.

Miller has shown glimpses of strength and the ability to race with the touch NCTS competition while racing for position in the last two events, and if he can get the kind of feel he is looking for when driving the #40, it will be anybody’s guess just how competitive he can be.

“There have been times when I didn’t know if it was me or the truck having the problems,” Miller said after a race in which he experienced some handling difficulties that slowed his progress.

“I know that Gary (Showalter) and Tommy (Director of Competition Morgan) have worked hard with me in trying to get me to not overdrive in the corners, and I can progress there. We had a good test at Bristol when my lap times were pretty consistent, so maybe this is the race when I can finally be comfortable from the start and have the confidence to race,” Miller added. (picture left: The Bristol primary and back-up race trucks on the lifts being prepped.)

Showalter was very impressed with Miller’s Bristol test effort and said at one point during the day-long affair a couple of weeks ago that he thought his stop watch had broken.

“There were 16, 18 straight laps there at one point during the test at Bristol that Brandon’s lap times were identical. I actually thought my stop watch was broken because the lap times never changed. He hit his marks every time and we need more of that this week in the race to be competitive. We just need Brandon to be a little less giving and a little more aggressive,” Showalter stated.

NCTS teams will have an added bonus at Bristol this week with NASCAR scheduling an open test on Tuesday prior to Wednesday’s one-day show. Good Year is bringing a new tire to BMS for this race that will be the first NASCAR event ever run on the newly surfaced half-mile, high-banked oval, so extra practice time was granted.

“It does somewhat bug you because it means that pretty much all of the data that we accumulated during that first test is for naught,” said Showalter. “But at least we know that Brandon runs some pretty good lines there (at Bristol), and if we can adapt to that new tire quickly, we should be alright,” he added.

Since moving into the #40 more than five weeks ago and despite so-so finishes, Miller has helped improve the team’s standing in the all-important owner’s point’s standing from the 28th spot to 26th and within 51 points of 25th place and 58 out of 24th. A good effort at Bristol will thus accomplish many things for Key Motorsports and its young driver. (picture right: Finishing touches being made to the primary #40 Bristol race truck.)

Miller for the first time will be driving the #40 in its traditional black and white paint scheme this week and under the Curtis Key Plumbing banner after three races in the hunter green and white of the Westerman Companies. The Westerman Companies logo will still occupy a space on the hood of the race truck as a “thank you” from team owner Curtis W. Key, Sr., and the company will return to primary level support of the #40 later in the season.

Practice for real begins Wednesday at 10 a.m. with qualifying scheduled for 4 p.m. and the race at 8 p.m. following a 150-lap USAR Hooters Pro Cup event that is scheduled to start at 5:45. The NCTS race will be televised live by the SPEED Channel.