Chase Miller knows how to sing for his supper; so to speak.

Nearly failing pre-calculus for a second time his senior year, Miller decided to serenade his math teacher, Miss Long, for a passing grade.

His sonnet: You Are So Beautiful by Joe Cocker.

The Georgia native, now 21 years old, cracks up immediately when recounting the story.

Chase Miller

“

He's not a big deal yet, so we can still tell him to shut up and get in the car.

”

CREW CHIEF KIRK ALMQUIST

"It was for a talent show, but she had no idea I was going to bring her up on stage," Miller laughed. "I sat her down, gave her a rose and started whaling. She said, 'Stop, stop, I'll give you an 80,' and it worked, I passed."

Lucky for Miller, his paychecks, as well as his suppers, now come from Gillett Evernham Motorsports. He's the team's rookie driver, splitting seat time with Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler in the No. 9 Nationwide Series Dodge machine.

In his second start of the 2008 season, Miller finished 21st Friday night in the Bashas' Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix International Raceway.

"Considering it was a good run there at the end, the [car] was too loose for the early part of the race," he said. "We finally got the car to where it was a little tight but couldn't get it just right to race harder. The guys worked hard on pit road and never gave up; we'll learn from this and be faster next time.

"When I picked up that one spot under green-white-checkers, [Landon Cassill] moved up like he knew I was there so I just stuck it in there. We completed our main goal -- finish the race and bring it home in one piece."

Bringing the car home in one piece is one of the virtues this rookie is most admired for.

In eight Nationwide Series starts, in the 2007 and 2008 seasons, Miller has completed 1,750 of 1755 laps and averages top-20 finishes with a career-best finish of 14th at Nashville this season.

Crew chief Kirk Almquist said his driver has a strong work ethic and is willing to listen.

And ... "He's not a big deal yet, so we can still tell him to shut up and get in the car," Almquist joked.

But speaking on Miller's Phoenix performance, Almquist said, "Chase did a good job. We were really good in the final practice on Thursday thinking we had a top-10 car. We started the race just a little too free into the turns and tight in the center. We made several adjustments, but just couldn't get a handle on it to finish better. We had a lot better car than what you see on the scoring sheet."

Miller will compete in seven additional races this season and hopes his results will carry him to a full-time opportunity next season.

Like most drivers, Miller's racing aspirations began as a young boy. He started on a motorcycle at 5 years old with horsepower so low he said it could barely make it over a tree stump.

At 9, he moved into his first go-kart and onto Legend cars in the Thursday Thunder series in Atlanta. Finally in 2005, Miller's family saved enough money for a few ARCA races.

At Gateway International Raceway, Miller's Dodge machine completed eight laps of practice and blew up. The Dodge Development Team let Miller barrow their back motor.

He qualified 15th and took the lead in the race with 10 laps to go, however, he broke the transmission.

Nevertheless, the performance and a later victory in Pocono, Pa. landed him a contract with the Dodge Development Team and ultimately a conversation with notable team owner Ray Evernham.

Evernham caught up to Miller at Lowe's Motor Speedway nearing the end of 2006 and told Miller an opportunity to race in his Nationwide car had become available if the driver was interested.

"I said, 'man I'll be there on Monday'," Miller recalled. "I had a grin from ear to ear, one of the best times of my life. I called pops and said you'll never believe what just happened"

Miller has a close relationship with his father, who is involved in the construction business, and always has bulldozers and Skid Steers on the family property.

Whenever possible, Miller would level a few trees and clear some brush around the land. If he had not become a racer, he may have built racetracks as opposed to racing on them.

"When I was three years old I watched this video of my brother driving a Skid Steer for hours at a time, it drove my parents crazy," Miller said. "I was always infatuated with motors, cars, tractors ... anything with wheels really."

Now, here's hoping Miller won't have to serenade Evernham to get a passing grade this season.