02-26-2007 | TruckSeries.com Report
The No. 4 Open Joist Team and Driver Chase Miller had one goal heading into the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series San Bernardino County 200 - finish the race and bring the truck home in one piece. Miller did just that by posting a 15th place finish in the 100-lap event at California Speedway on Friday night. It was the team's first top-15 finish of the season and moved Miller to 16th in the championship point standings. "I am extremely happy to bring home the Open Joist Dodge in 14th place tonight," said Miller. "We were loose most of the night, but I think everyone was battling that condition. I know Schrader was. My crew guys did a great job tonight. We had a lug nut hang up on one stop, but we were able to rebound form that pretty quickly. Tonight was the first real test for the new Dodge "nose" and I think we are going to be in good shape. We have a couple weeks off and I know we are going to be even better in Atlanta." Miller qualified 11th Friday afternoon for the San Bernardino County 200. It was his second straight top-15 qualifying performance. The Dodge Development Driver consistently ran in the top-15 in the opening laps. "It feels really good," said Miller on lap 20. "There is just a lot of traffic out here to work your way through." The first caution waived on lap 32 for debris. Miller made his way down pit road to the attention of the No. 4 Open Joist crew. They changed all four tires, added fuel and made no adjustments to their Dodge Ram. A lug nut hung on the right rear costing Miller valuable time on pit road. He restarted in 20th position. "Sorry about that buddy," said Crew Chief, Marcus Richmond, after the stop. "We had a lug nut hang up, but we know you can get the spots back on the track." Miller agreed and went right back to work. The second caution came out on lap 53 for a spin in turn four. Richmond called the No. 4 Open Joist Dodge down pit road for fuel only. Miller restated in 5th position. Soon after the restart, Miller began to fight an extremely loose truck and he slid back to 16th position. Another caution waived several laps later allowing Miller to come down pit road for a necessary adjustment. The No. 4 Open Joist Dodge crew changed all four tires, added fuel and made a track bar adjustment to help the loose condition. He restarted in 23rd position. Miller made a huge charge toward the front in the closing laps of the event after taking on four fresh tires. He passed eight trucks to finish in the 14th position. It was the team's first top-15 of the season. Mike Skinner won the San Bernardino County 200 before an estimated crowd of 20,000. Ron Hornaday Jr., Jack Sprague, Carl Edwards and Ted Musgrave rounded out the top five finishers.