August 4, 2003

Square D Racing Recap: Power Stroke Diesel 200

A good pit call and some savvy driving helped Square D driver Bobby Hamilton finish the Power Stroke Diesel 200 at Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) in third position. As a result of his top-five finish, Hamilton picked up two spots in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship race to fifth position.

The Power Stroke Diesel 200 is unlike any other event on the Craftsman Truck Series circuit. The teams practiced from noon until 2 pm, then set their trucks up for qualifying and the start of the race at the same time. It is a rule at this particular IRP event that once trucks qualify they are impounded on pit road until the start of the race. Hamilton earned the 16th starting position on the grid after he turned a lap time of 23.320 seconds.

Immediately after the race started the 46-year-old Tennessee native starting picking up positions. Hamilton had worked his way up 10th position by the time the third caution came out on lap 59. During this time he told his Crew Chief Newt Moore that his truck was extremely loose. Moore called for an adjustment to the jack bolt and an air pressure adjustment in the tires for the pit stop the following lap.

Once the race restarted, Hamilton’s lap times were still among the fastest on the race track, but he was battling a loose condition throughout the corners. However the Square D driver toughed it out until the fifth caution of the night came out on lap 110. Moore called Hamilton into the pits so the team could make an adjustment to the tire pressures and the track bar trying to tighten the Dodge Ram up. This would give Hamilton at least 75 laps to pick up as many positions as he could on the race track.

Hamilton restarted on lap 114 in 14th position. Thirty laps later he was in ninth. The final caution came out on lap 160. This was the advantage the Square D Racing Team had hoped for in the final laps. The field tightened up and restarted on lap 164 and only 13 laps later Hamilton was already in fifth. The Square D driver went on to finish the race in third position, his sixth top-five finish this season.

“Newt made a great call out there tonight,” Hamilton said as he wiped the sweat from his face after the race. “We pitted about 75 laps to go and it gave me plenty of time to pick up as many spots as I could. I had a fast truck, one of the fastest out there. It was loose and I was holding on a lot of the time, but loose is fast. I swear with all this bad luck we’ve been having lately it’s nice to finish the race in the top five and get that momentum back that we had at the first of the year. I feel like I just won this race, now if I only had the trophy.”

Carl Edwards won the Power Stroke Diesel 200. Travis Kvapil, Hamilton, Brendan Gaughan and Jon Wood followed in the top five.

NEXT EVENT: The Federated Auto Parts 200 at Nashville Super Speedway in Gladeville, Tennessee on August 8, 2003. The event will be televised live on SPEED Channel at 9:00 PM Eastern Time and also live on MRN radio at 9:00 PM Eastern Time.