Profiles: Butch Miller and Kerry Earnhardt

Since both the ASA and ARCA series are at a standstill this week, this article will profile two of the drivers who raced in these series during 2000. One is the three time ASA champion, Butch Miller, an experienced veteran who returned to ASA after years on the NASCAR circuit. The other is a young driver with a famous name who ran five ARCA races this year before moving up to Winston Cup. His name, of course is Kerry Earnhardt.

For 48 year old Butch Miller, returning to the American Speed Association is like coming home. During the late 1980's and early 1990's Miller's name was found almost every week in the top 5 finishers, and often he was found smiling down from the podium in Victory Lane. During those years, he was recognized as the king of ASA Racing.

Then the lure of NASCAR and the high profile life of a NASCAR driver pulled him away from ASA, and he began an almost ten year ride of disappointing finishes and frustrating Sundays. During his six years on the Winston Cup circuit, he only finished in the top 10 one time. Of course, he was only running partial seasons with the Cup cars, since his main concentration was on Busch and Truck racing.

The Busch cars weren't much kinder to Butch. In seven years he had 21 top ten finishes, but victories were still elusive, although he won two races. The Truck series was no better for Miller, as he won only one race. At the end of the 1999 season, Butch Miller decided to come back home to ASA. His return earned him a victory at Indianapolis Raceway Park in September, and it looks like the "old" veteran is back to stay.

On the other hand, Kerry Earnhardt is a young driver on his way up, in part thanks to the help of his father, Dale Earnhardt, but mostly due to his skill on the track. Kerry started five ARCA races, winning one, before the call of Winston Cup lured him to the "Big Time".

Kerry started the 2000 season with ARCA and in the first five races had four top five finishes and one victory. His only disappointment was a 39th place finish at Daytona, in the opening race of the season. After his victory at Pocono in June, he began making plans to move up and while he drove one more ARCA race, by July he was on the Winston Cup circuit.

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