Miller Named Co-Driver of No. 21 Reese’s Chevy for 2005

Brandon Miller

WELCOME, N.C. (Nov. 3, 2004) -- Richard Childress Racing (RCR) will team rising talent Brandon Miller with 2001 NASCAR Busch Series Champion Kevin Harvick in the No. 21 Reese’s Chevrolet Monte Carlo for the 2005 NASCAR Busch Series season.

The 23-year-old San Diego native will compete in 20 of the season’s 35 races while Harvick will be behind the wheel for the remaining 15 (see below for full schedule). He will make his season debut March 19 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Miller will replace Clint Bowyer, who in October was named as the driver of RCR’s No. 2 ACDelco Chevrolet for 2005.

Miller qualified 17th and finished 16th in his NASCAR Busch Series debut with RCR in the Oct. 9 Mr. Goodcents 300 at Kansas Speedway. Earlier this season, Miller qualified the No. 55 Robby Gordon Motorsports Chevrolet in June at Nashville Superspeedway (21st) and Kentucky Speedway (fifth) when Gordon’s NASCAR Cup schedule conflicted with the NASCAR Busch schedule. He also started seventh and finished 20th in the No. 2 NASCAR Truck Series entry Sept. 25 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“I think Brandon has the talent to be a NASCAR champion one day so teaming him up with Kevin next year will give him the opportunity to learn from a champion while they compete together for the Busch Series owners’ title,” said Richard Childress, president and CEO of Richard Childress Racing. “We think we have been successful in the way we have set up the Reese’s program, winning the (owner’s) championship last year and being able to move Clint (Bowyer) into the No. 2 car next year. Brandon and Clint give us two strong young drivers to build for the future.”

Miller caught the eye of Bobby Hutchens, RCR’s Vice President of Competition, in 2003 when he qualified sixth and finished eighth in his NASCAR Truck Series debut at Mesa Marin Speedway (Bakersfield, Calif.) in an entry fielded by Kevin Harvick, Inc.

“First of all, I am honored to drive for RCR and represent a company like Hershey and I am just looking forward to learning as much as possible from Kevin Harvick,” said Miller. “For my first year, it is probably better to do a half season and share the car with Harvick as opposed to jumping into a car for a full season. I don’t think being in the car only half the season is going to hurt me at all. I’m looking forward to a good year.”

Miller started racing go-karts at age 12. He won the 1993 U.S. Grand National in Karting while also running the entire European Circuit in Belgium, France, Italy, as well as Japan and Austrailia. He drove in his first Super Late Model stock car race at Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway in 1999. In 2002, he won the Super Late Model Championship at Mesa Marin Speedway on the strength of six victories and seven pole positions. Miller has also competed in the NASCAR Southwest Tour and the NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series.

The 2005 NASCAR Busch Series season will be Reese’s second year as the primary sponsor of the No. 21 team and Hershey’s third year of primary sponsorship with the team. The 2003 PayDay team of Harvick and Johnny Sauter earned the owner-points championship while the 2004 Reese’s team of Harvick and Bowyer is currently fourth in the owner-point standings.

Date	Site	Driver
Feb. 19	Daytona International Speedway	Harvick
Feb. 26	California Speedway	Harvick
March 6	Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez	Harvick
March 12	Las Vegas Motor Speedway	Harvick
March 19	Atlanta Motor Speedway	Miller
March 26	Nashville Superspeedway	Miller
April 2	Bristol Motor Speedway	Harvick
April 16	Texas Motor Speedway	Miller
April 22	Phoenix International Raceway	Harvick
April 30	Talladega Superspeedway	Harvick
May 6	Darlington Raceway	Miller
May 13	Richmond International Raceway	Harvick
May 28	Lowe's Motor Speedway	Miller
June 4	Dover International Speedway	Miller
June 11	Nashville Superspeedway	Miller
June 18	Kentucky Speedway	Miller
June 25	Milwaukee Mile	Miller
July 1	Daytona International Speedway	Harvick
July 9	Chicagoland Speedway	Miller
July 16	New Hampshire International Speedway	Harvick
July 23	Pikes Peak International Raceway	Miller
July 30	Gateway International Raceway	Miller
Aug. 6	Indianapolis Raceway Park	Miller
Aug. 13	Watkins Glen International	Harvick
Aug. 20	Michigan International Speedway	Miller
Aug. 26	Bristol Motor Speedway	Harvick
Sept. 3	California Speedway	Miller
Sept. 9	Richmond International Raceway	Harvick
Sept. 24	Dover International Speedway	Miller
Oct. 8	Kansas Speedway	Harvick
Oct. 14	Lowe's Motor Speedway	Miller
Oct. 22	Memphis Motorsports Park	Miller
Nov. 5	Texas Motor Speedway	Miller
Nov. 12	Phoenix International Raceway	Harvick
Nov. 19	Homestead-Miami Speedway	Miller