Scott Miller: Crew Chief Masterminds Jeff Burton's Success

At the halfway point of the Chase for the Championship, NASCAR's version of the playoffs, all bets were off this weekend as to who would win the Bank of America 500 race at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Traditionally, this race and track have belonged to Jimmie Johnson, two-time NASCAR champion, who just happens to carry the track sponsor’s name on his race car.  The past several races at Lowe's, including the All Star Race and the Coca Cola 600, however, belonged to Kasey Kahne, this year sporting the No. 9 Budweiser car.   

But with 36 laps to go in this weekend’s Lowe’s race, Jeff Burton in the No. 31 AT&T car, was in the lead and pulling away from the field in the clean air.  When Burton headed to pit road for the final pit stop, along with all the other leaders, it was decision time: two tires, four tires, or gas and go.

Right next to Kim Burton, Jeff's devoted wife, on the pit box sat the mastermind of the team, crew chief Scott Miller.  His team had performed admirably throughout the race, advancing Burton a spot almost every pit stop.

Miller knew that Burton's car did best when it was out in front in clean air.  In fact, the lead position had been the one of choice for any team fortunate enough to lead a lap in the race.

After conferring with his veteran driver, Scott Miller made one of the most difficult (and gutsiest) calls of the race.  That particular call had worked before and Miller was betting that it would work again, hopefully so well that the checkered flag would be in their hands.

As Burton pulled into his pit stall, Miller barked out the orders to his team to just put gas in the car and get it back on the track, and out front, as quickly as possible.  The team complied, with Burton sailing out, far ahead of any of the other cars, who had all either taken two or four tires.

As Burton and Miller discussed the gamble, both were comfortable with the decision as they could make it on fuel for the rest of the race.

But Miller was not reassuring. If there were "additional" laps, as in a green, white, checkered finish, he knew they would be short. 

Miller quietly asked his driver to "save every drop" of fuel that he could.

But in the end, when the checkered flag flew, Miller had indeed made the right call and Burton sailed into Victory Lane.  In his post-race interview, in addition to thanking his crew chief, Jeff Burton shared that they are the team that is indeed flying under the radar during this particular Chase competition.

Since that most certainly is the case, who exactly is this crew chief of Jeff Burton's, who thrives on making these most gut-wrenching calls?  In order to answer that question, one must look back in history, not to NASCAR racing, but to AMA Motocross.

Scott Miller, born on Aug. 23, 1957, in Bardstown, Ky., was barely a teenager when he went racing mini-bikes and motorcycles.  He raced them competitively from 1969 to 1978, moving to national competition in AMA Motocross.

In 1979, Miller moved from motorcycle racing to the Formula Vee Series, winning the championship in his first full year of competition.  In 1981, he raced in the Formula Continental Class, winning the Southern Pacific Division's National Championship.

In the early 1980's, Miller turned his sights to NASCAR, running a limited Winston West schedule.  He drove and owned a car in the series from 1983 to 1985.

Then it was off to Indy car racing, where he served as the chief mechanic for several race teams.  But in 1995, he returned to his NASCAR roots, moving to North Carolina to work as a shop specialist.

In 1997, Miller worked as a damper engineer/chassis specialist for Richard Childress Racing.  He worked as Team Engineer for driver Jeff Green in 2002 and Ricky Craven in 2003.

The following years, Miller worked as Team Engineer for Robby Gordon and Kevin Harvick.  He won with Kevin Harvick at Bristol, where he was filling in for crew chief Todd Berrier during a five-week suspension.

In 2005, at the end of the race season, Scott Miller was named crew chief for Jeff Burton and the RCR car No. 31, Cingular, now AT&T, Chevrolet.  The following year, he led the team to a seventh place finish in the championship points and in 2007, followed that up with an eighth place finish in points.

Miller has indeed dabbled in almost every form of racing, from motorcycles to Indy to F1 to NASCAR.  In his spare time, he likes to hang out with wife Suzette and daughter Eva, as well as collect guitars.

But this year, Scott Miller is driven by one thing and one thing alone - winning the championship with his driver Jeff Burton.  In fact, he is so possessed that Burton admits to often having to tell him to go home instead of playing out race strategy 24/7 as he so often does.

Miller has proven himself as a competitor, both off and on the pit box.  And he has positioned Burton and his team well for a championship run, currently sitting just 69 points behind points leader Jimmie Johnson.

Will Miller be the gutsiest crew chief in the garage in the final half of the Chase races?  If his past record predicts the future, he most certainly will.  And that could just clinch the championship for Jeff Burton and Richard Childress Racing this season.