High Sierra Photo

Rookie sensation Chase Miller proved once again age is not an issue when it comes to his experience level on a track he had not laid eyes on before the race. The entire Las Vegas weekend started off in the right direction when 19-year-old Miller posted the fastest time in Friday's test session and second fastest time for Saturday morning's practice session. He backed that up by laying down an awesome lap in qualifying, landing him third on the grid for The Smith's 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Miller ran in the top five for the first 80 laps of the 146-lap event. Miller was running in the 21st position due to pit stop sequence when the engine in his No. 4 Dodge Motorsports Dodge expired on lap 105. Miller finished 32nd in his second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race.

No. 4 Dodge Las Vegas Race Review

• Miller qualified in the third position for his second NCTS event.
• On lap one Miller passed Bobby East for second place and stayed there for the first 18 laps before being passed by Ted Musgrave.
• The first caution waved on lap 25. Miller radioed in, "It is getting a little tight." Crew Chief Marcus Richmond made the decision to bring Miller down pit road for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment to aid the tight condition. He restarted in the 13th position on lap 29.
• Miller had made his way into the seventh position when the second caution came out only three laps later on lap 32. He elected not to pit under the caution and restarted in seventh on lap 35.
• It took Miller a mere 10 laps to move himself back into the third position. But once again the caution waved several laps later when teammate Bobby Hamilton Jr. blew a right front tire.
• Miller stayed out and restarted third on lap 56.
• On lap 70 Miller radioed in, "It is extremely tight now." Richmond assured Miller they would fix it on the next pit stop.
• Four laps later the fourth caution waved and Miller came down pit road to the attention of the Dodge Racing Team. They changed four tires, added fuel and went up two rounds on the track bar to fix the tight condition. Miller restarted in 19th position because several teams elected to not pit or took only two tires.
• The fifth caution came out on lap 87 while Miller was running 17th. "It is even worse now that I am in so much traffic. I am going to need clean air to get back to the front," said Miller.
• By lap 100 Miller had dropped to 21st position while struggling with the tight truck.
  Just five laps later Miller's run to the front ended when the engine expired and relegated him to a 32nd position.

Mike Skinner won the Smith's 350 in front of a crowd of 65,000. Musgrave, Mike Bliss, Johnny Benson and Ron Hornaday Jr. rounded out the top five.