Race 2 Win: Nationwide Series Race Notes

Nationwide Series

Pepsi 300 - Chase Miller Notes

No. 9 Valvoline Dodge Charger
Nashville Preview

Chase Miller makes his 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series debut Saturday driving the No. 9 Valvoline Dodge at Nashville Superspeedway. The 21-year-old Georgian finished 22nd at the 1.3-mile tri-oval in June – his first race with the Gillett Evernham Motorsports team.

Miller joins Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler and Patrick Carpentier as GEM drivers who have piloted the No. 9 in the 2008 season. At Bristol Motor Speedway last week the No. 9 nearly grabbed its first win of the season, but finished second when rain ended the race early ruining Kahne’s chance for victory.

The finish bumped the No. 9 team up team up eight spots to 11th in owner points.

DRIVER CHASE MILLER QUOTES:
THOUGHTS ON NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY “Nashville is a special place to me. It was the first race that I started for Gillett Evernham Motorsports and really want to get a good finish for Ray [Evernham], George [Gillett] and all the guys back at the shop. The team has been unloading fast race cars since the beginning of the season and we want to continue running fast this weekend.”

ON GETTING SET UP WITH GEM “It was half-way through last year. I saw Ray [Evernham] at a race in Charlotte. He told me he had some stuff open up and if I was interested in the running the Nationwide car there was a seat for me.

“I told him I’d be at the shop on Monday.”

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING SINCE THE LAST RACE AT MEMPHIS IN 2007 “I travel with the team to every race I can. It makes a big difference going to the race and listening to how the team director and driver interact. If someone like Kasey [Kahne] or Elliott [Sadler] are racing it helps me out a lot. I can listen to their communication and it helps with my learning curve, a bit. I’m just trying to do as much learning as possible.

“I also do testing for GEM. So I’ve been testing a little bit and trying to keep as much seat time as possible. During the week I’ve been driving the pit car that the crew practices on. It’s the small things like that which helps build such a strong team atmosphere at GEM.”

ON HIS PLAN FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON “Right now, I’ve got seven races with Gillett Evernham hopefully that number will grow by the end of the year. Maybe it will be a full-time deal someday soon.”

NOTES
Chassis

Miller will drive chassis No. 21. It finished eighth at Vegas and ninth at Atlanta. Backup is No. 24 which finished 25th at Homestead in 2007.

Nashville Superspeedway

Miller’s initial appearance in a Gillett Evernham Motorsports car came at Nashville in July when he started and finished 22nd. .

2008 Season

The No. 9 Valvoline Dodge Charger gained eight spots in Owner’s Points last weekend. The team is currently ranked 11th, eight points outside of the top-10.

Kahne put on a strong performance at Bristol battling for the lead before finishing second in the rain-shortened race.

The No. 9 Valvoline crew owns three top-10 finishes in the last three races.

Patrick Carpentier earned the Ultimate Chargers team its first top-10 finish of the season at Las Vegas where he finished eighth despite no practice laps in the car before the start of the race. Carpentier replaced Kahne due to illness.

History

This is Miller’s first start of the 2008 season and his seventh career race with Gillett Evernham Motorsports

He qualified on the outside pole in his second start at Kentucky last season.

The Ultimate Chargers posted victories at Charlotte and Bristol in 2007 with Kahne behind the wheel.

Gillett Evernham Motorsports

Ray Evernham served as Jeff Gordon’s crew chief from 1992-’99 winning 47 races and three Cup championships.

Evernham founded Evernham Motorsports in 2000 and began first full season of competition in 2001 serving as the cornerstone of Dodge’s return to NASCAR.

George Gillett Jr. became co-owner with Evernham in October 2007. Gillett also owns the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL and the Liverpool soccer team in the English Premier League.

Gillett Evernham Motorsports campaigns Kasey Kahne in the No. 9, Patrick Carpentier in the No. 10, and Elliott Sadler in the No. 19 in NASCAR Sprint Cup competition.

The organization also fields the No. 9 in NASCAR Nationwide Series races with its Sprint Cup drivers plus rookie Chase Miller.

Bio
At only 21 years of age, Chase Miller not only brings youthful exuberance to the Gillett Evernham Motorsports family, but more importantly, over 16 years of racing experience.

Miller is a native of Canton, Ga., who has been racing competitively since the age of five. He initially joined forces with Gillett Evernham Motorsports in the No. 9 Nationwide Series entry at Nashville Superspeedway in the summer of 2007. He went on to drive six races in the No. 9 Dodge Charger and qualified on the outside pole at Kentucky in his second career start.

Miller signed on as part of the Dodge Driver Development program in 2006. While driving in the ARCA Series he went on to win at Pocono Raceway in only his second start. Miller also added a pole at Gateway to his early success in ARCA. Later that year, Miller filled the seat for the Bobby Hamilton Racing No. 4 Dodge Ram in the Truck Series. He competed in eight events and scored his first top 10 finish at Martinsville in only his fourth start in the series.