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NASCAR Trucks: Butch Miller/DANA Racing Notes

1 April 1999

* Past to Present: On February 5th, 1995 Butch Miller crossed the start/finish line at Phoenix International Raceway in seventh position, winning $2,850. Four years and 99 races later, NOW, April 3rd 1999. Butch Miller and the DANA Racing team have the opportunity to collect over $130,000 dollars for winning the NAPACARD 200 at Evergreen Speedway.

Miller, one of five drivers that is eligible to win the Craftsman $100,000 bonus for having competed in every truck series race in history has only one win in the series. That win came in 1995 at Colorado Speedway. Since then he has struggled to find victory lane. But those struggles may be close to coming to an end.

Miller joined forces with veteran NASCAR Winston Cup driver Bobby Hamilton over the winter, and the spring in Miller's step came back almost immediately. He began to get back the confidence that it takes to win and now just two races into the 1999 season Miller believes that a win is just around the next corner.

"This is the best opportunity I have had to win in some time," said Miller. "If someone said I would be racing for $100,000 in bonus money when this series started, I would have told them they were crazy. I just can't tell you what this means to me and to this series. The end of this race could get a little wild if we are all racing for the big money"

The other drivers eligible for the bonus are Joe Ruttman, Rick Carelli, Jack Sprague, and Ron Hornaday.

* Home Cooking: Dale Garrels, father of Rick Garrels the DANA Racing truck driver, will be cooking some home-style salmon for the entire DANA Racing crew at Evergreen Speedway this weekend. Dale Garrels is a native of Palmer, Alaska, which is north of Anchorage in the Mat-Su-valley.

* Owner: DANA Racing team owner and veteran NASCAR Winston Cup driver Bobby Hamilton will be in attendance at this weeks race at Evergreen Speedway. It will be the first time that Hamilton will have the opportunity to see his new truck team in action. This is the first weekend that the NASCAR Winston Cup series is not competing since the truck season began.

* Plant Visit: On April 6th, the Tuesday between the Evergreen Speedway race and the Mesa Marin Speedway race. The DANA racing team transporter will be making a stop at the Stockton California DANA plant that builds the frames for the Tacoma pickup truck. The transporter will stop for the afternoon and give the employees the opportunity to see the team's rig and race trucks up close and personal.

Best Start: (1) poles-I-70 Speedway Odessa, MI. (July 27, 1996)
Best Finish: 1st Colorado Speedway Erie, Colorado (July 15, 1995)
Biggest Purse: $ 37,000 - Disneyworld Speedway (January 19, 1997)

Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot photos and racing art, please visit The Racing Image Galleries and The Visions of Speed Art Gallery

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