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No. 9 Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers Dodge Charger Gateway International Raceway Preview

Tuesday July 15, 2008

 

The Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers decals will adorn the No. 9 Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge driven by Chase Miller in Saturday’s Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 at Gateway International Speedway.

This race marks the fourth time since 2007 the colors of the Dodge Dealers appear on No. 9 with Miller behind the wheel.

“It’s great to have the Dodge Dealers back on our No. 9 Dodge at Gateway,” said the 21-year-old Miller. “We had some success during their sponsorship last year and it’s an honor to partner with them again.

Miller’s most successful run of 2007 came at the 1.25-mile lighted oval near St. Louis when he started 10th and finished 15th. It marked the first top-15 finish of his Nationwide Series career.

In 2008, Miller has competed in seven Nationwide Series events. His best finish of eighth came at Darlington Raceway.

TV and Radio Times: Qualifying is set for Saturday at 5 p.m. (ET) on ESPN2 and MRN Radio. Race time on Saturday is 9:30 p.m. (ET) on ESPN2 and MRN Radio.

DRIVER CHASE MILLER QUOTES:

“I think we are even better than last year. I’ve matured a little bit as a driver. I’ve logged more laps, learned a lot and I’ve gotten more comfortable around the team. This time around we’re expecting an even better run. I know this Dodge Dealers team is capable of doing that. GEM has always had a strong relationship with the Dodge Dealers and we want to continue that and help them get to victory lane.”

CREW CHIEF, KIRK ALMQUIST QUOTES:

“Chase has done a lot of good for this Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers team. He brings a different, youthful perspective for us. I think that the variety of drivers in our Nationwide car can help this team be even more successful on the racetrack.

“We ended up running pretty well at Gateway last year. It’s a place that can be a challenge to get around. I think one of the biggest factors in getting to victory lane will be grip. Whoever has a car that gets a fair amount of grip and runs strong off the corner, will be the one to beat.”

NOTES

Chassis
Primary is No. 011. Backup is No. 009.

Gateway Int’l Raceway
Miller has one career start at Gateway [2007].
He finished 15th after qualifying 10th.

Season to date:
Has made seven starts earning one top-10 finish [Darlington] with best qualifying position of 15th [Milwaukee].

Career:
In 13 previous starts, Miller has one outside pole (Kentucky ’07) and best finish of eighth (Darlington ‘08). In those 13 races, seven finishes have been in the top-20.

2008 Season:
Kasey Kahne drove the No. 9 to a sixth-place finish at Daytona.
The No. 9 Dodge Charger is ranked 13th in owner points, 74 points outside the top-10.
The team has seven top-10s this season.
Kahne grabbed the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers team their first pole of the season at Richmond.
At Talladega the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers Dodge finished eighth, earning Patrick Carpentier his second straight top-10 and rookie of the race honors.
The No.9 team nearly grabbed their first victory of the season at Bristol. Kahne ran out of laps to make the winning pass in the rain-shortened race, but earned the team their first top-five of the year.
Patrick Carpentier earned the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers team their first top-10 of the season after finishing eighth at Las Vegas. Carpentier didn’t have any practice laps in the car before taking the green flag.

History
· Gillett Evernham Motorsports had two victories in the Nationwide Series last year. They came at Charlotte and Bristol with Kahne behind the wheel.
· Since joining forces with Gillett Evernham Motorsports in 2005, Kahne has won at least two races each season in the Nationwide Series.

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.

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This report was provided by an outside PR source and posted by Kim DeHaven.

 

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