November 3, 2003

Square D Racing Recap: Chevy Silverado 150

Square D driver Bobby Hamilton conquered a huge milestone in his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career today at Phoenix International Raceway when he finished the Chevy Silverado 150 in fifth position. Hamilton’s top-10 finish marked the 100th top 10 for Bobby Hamilton Racing since its inception in 1996.

The Square D driver qualified his No. 4 Dodge in seventh position, and didn’t waste any time after the start of the race taking over the third spot. The Tennessee native’s lap times were consistently the fastest on the race track as he worked through trucks trying to take the lead.

The first caution came out on lap 35. Hamilton told Crew Chief Newt Moore that his truck was tight in the middle of the corners, but he did not want a major change for fear it would jeopardize the setup later in the race. Moore called for a minor adjustment to air pressure and sent his driver back on the race track in a timely matter.

When the second caution came out Hamilton said the air-pressure adjustment made the truck tighter. So Moore told the Square D Racing Team to take a rubber out of the left rear spring and make the air pressures the way they started the race. This was the last scheduled pit stop for the team; Hamilton could go the rest of the race on fuel. He restarted on lap 75 in eighth position. In four laps he was in seventh, in three more he had already taken over the sixth spot.

In the final laps he battled with Carl Edwards for the fifth position. With only 20 laps left in the race, Hamilton’s truck was the fastest on the track despite the fact he was surrounded by lapped traffic. He went on to finish the race in fifth, marking his ninth top-five this season.

"I thought we'd be a little bit better than that, but the guys did a great job getting us competitive again,” Hamilton said. “We were real good on short runs and thought we had a great shot at winning. I would just get caught up in traffic and ran out of time to move up any more. The way they have our happy hour practices set up at eight o'clock in the morning and then the race being so late in the afternoon is a challenge. I don't think this truck has a scratch on it, so it was a good day. I had a lot of fun.

"I've been in business four and a half years, so it's pretty special to get the 100th top ten finish where I got my first shot in NASCAR,” Hamilton said. “It just means I've got a bunch of good people working for me.”

Kevin Harvick won the Chevy Silverado 150 in Phoenix. Ted Musgrave, Dennis Setzer, Carl Edwards and Hamilton followed in the top five.