CONCORD, N.C. -- Before last weekend, the last time Scott Miller called a race was at Bristol Motor Speedway in the late summer of 2009. No wonder he had to make himself a checklist of all the routine tasks that regular crew do every Sunday.

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It definitely seems pretty seamless with him filling in. He's done a great job, but I think it [also] speaks for Shane [Wilson]'s plan and strategy. Going into this he was ready, he was prepared for it, and all the guys never missed a beat and did their jobs.

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-- CLINT BOWYER

"It's funny, last Sunday I had to make myself a list, because I hadn't called a raced in over a year," said Miller, filling in for the suspended Shane Wilson on Clint Bowyer's No. 33 team. "I had to make a list of all the little things you take for granted every week, simple things like getting them out of the pit box, clearing them out of the pit box, all the little things that are second nature to you when you do it every week. I had to make myself a little checklist and re-familiarize myself with all that so I didn't make any mistakes."

There were no mistakes last week at Auto Club Speedway in Southern California, where Miller oversaw a second-place run in the absence of Wilson, sidelined for four weeks for violations found on the No. 33 after Bowyer's victory in the Chase opener at New Hampshire. It's a new, yet familiar role for Richard Childress Racing's director of competition, who was Jeff Burton's crew chief before being promoted to his current position. He's even worked as a fill-in before, winning a race with Kevin Harvick when Todd Berrier was suspended at Bristol in 2005.

"I wasn't worried about Scott not being able to do the job," Bowyer said Thursday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where the Sprint Cup Series races Saturday night. "He was a crew chief before, he is our competition director, and probably the best person for that job because he's on top of all that is going on. He's the most suitable person for that. Everything that happens on the engineering side at the shop he's in tune with, everything that happens on Sunday, he's there and knows what's going on, listens to us every weekend on the radio. He's just a perfect fit there."

Miller said taking control of the No. 33 during Wilson's suspension was simply the natural move, given his prior experience calling races. He's still handling his regular role as competition director, bouncing from one Childress hauler to another, on Thursday wearing his standard RCR polo shirt rather than a crew chief's jersey. Wilson is still working in the shop and handling most of the day-to-day preparation on the No. 33 car, allowing Miller to devote much of his time to his regular job overseeing the entire organization. Once that yellow car rolls off the transporter, though, it's all in Miller's hands.

He doesn't seem to mind. Like many former crew chiefs who move into management, Miller missed the camaraderie of working with a specific race team.

"Probably about the time I get used to it, it will be about time to go to the other [job] again," joked Miller, himself a former driver on the old Winston West regional circuit. "It's been fun. I really missed it. That's one of the hardest adjustments I had was not calling the race and not being involved with a specific race team on a weekend. It's been fun, getting back to that. I've also had to concentrate on doing all that other stuff, too, so it's been active." (Continued)