BROKEN REAR END IS THE FINAL BLOW TO MILLER’S HOPES
IN DISAPPOINTING GATEWAY INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCE

MADISON, ILLINOIS (September 1, 2007) – What had been a day of high hopes for rookie driver Brandon Miller and his #40 Westerman Companies Chevrolet team ended after just 111 laps Saturday at the Gateway International Raceway here. The end result was a hard-to-swallow, 27th place finish in the Missouri/Illinois Dodge Dealers Ram Tough 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race.

Running in what he called “the best truck yet that I have driven for Key Motorsports”, Miller first slapped the turn four wall on lap 22 of the 150-lap race while running in the 17th position. “I had a heck of a run on the truck in front of me and had a good shot to make a pass and pick up another position when the truck just darted out of the groove and into the wall,” Miller said. “I can’t believe our luck because we had something for them today,” he added.

Now driving a truck that had a broken splitter and crushed right front fender that made it nearly impossible for Miller to turn his truck through the corners, the #40 was still out there running and was showing in the 25th position on lap 85 and just two laps down to then leader Ron Hornaday. That’s when Miller radioed in to his crew to tell them that his right side tires were gone.

Crew chief Gary Showalter had Miller pit under green flag racing conditions on lap 87 for repairs to the truck and fresh right side tires, losing two more laps in the process but still holding the 25th slot.

Miller pitted the Westerman Companies machine again on lap 107 during a caution to take on left side tires and continue repair to the tow-in and splitter. The race was re-started on lap 109 and six laps later Miller said that something broke in the truck. The culprit was initially diagnosed as a broken rear end or gear and only the fourth DNF for Key Motorsports in 17 outings this year.

“I am really sorry for everyone on the team because today should have been our best day yet in our five races together,” said Miller, who was also looking for somewhat of a belated birthday present after turning 26 on Tuesday. Based on the final finishing order, it’s easy to see why there was such an air of disappointment in the Key Motorsports camp.

The Ford of driver Travis Kvapil finished sixth while the trucks piloted by Josh Wise, Rick Crawford, Jon Wood and Chad McCumbee posted finishes of 8th, 11th, 14th and 15th, respectively, all of whom started behind Miller and were running well behind him when the incident with the fourth turn wall occurred.

“I’m sick just looking at the scoreboard,” said Showalter, who even after the problems saw Miller turn some lap times as good as most of the top-running race trucks. “We had a top 10 truck if everything went our way, but that has to happen for 160 laps (the length of Saturday’s race) and not just 22. You can’t do much when the splitter is broken, and you obviously can’t run when you have no gear,” he added frustratingly.

Miller’s 19th place qualifying effort was his best for Key Motorsports in his five races to date, overcoming some minor glitches that occurred during practice on Friday to again show evidence to the strong truck the team had going into the Gateway event. That all went for naught starting with the fourth turn wall hit and ending with a busted rear end.

Johnny Benson passed Hornaday with just a couple of laps to go to earn the victory, but Hornaday did vault into the points lead for the first time this year over Mike Skinner who finished one position behind Miller after cutting down a tire and hitting the wall mid-way through the race while leading. Skinner started from the pole (his ninth top qualifying effort of the 2007 season) and did lead the first 31 laps.