October 13, 2003

Square D Racing Recap: Silverado 350K

After battling an extremely loose truck in practice Hamilton and his Square D Racing Team put their heads together to change the setup for the Silverado 350K at Texas Motor Speedway. The changes helped Hamilton finish the race in a respectable 10th position, his 15th top-10 this season.

Hamilton started the race in 19th position and by the end of lap one had already moved up to 14th. It didn’t take long to pass four more trucks and settle in the top 10. Hamilton said, “My truck is much better than it was yesterday. It was a little loose at the start of the race, but after I got some heat in the tires it came to me.”

By lap 55 teams were starting to pit under green-flag conditions before they ran out of fuel. Hamilton stopped on pit road on lap 59 for four fresh Goodyear Eagles, fuel and a track bar adjustment. When he went back on the track he was considered two laps down. One was because the entire field had not yet pitted. The other lap was when Hamilton went back on the track he was too close to the leader and got passed trying to get up to speed.

Then the third caution came out on lap 69 before five trucks had pitted. This left the remainder of the field one or more laps down. Hamilton was 11th.

The next two cautions came out and according to NASCAR’s new rule, teams, one lap down or more, are picked according to the highest position on the track and granted its lap back. Hamilton was third in line to be the “Lucky Dog.” Finally on lap 122 Hamilton was granted one of his two laps back. This meant he would be the next driver to get back on the lead lap if another caution came out before the final 10 laps.

Crew Chief Newt Moore called Hamilton into the pits for fresh tires in case the scenario played out he would have an advantage over the top nine trucks. However the race went green for the final 19 laps and Hamilton finished in 10th position.

“We felt like we won the race after how that truck felt yesterday in happy hour,” Hamilton said. “I figured we would be lucky to finish 20th then. We pitted once and lost two laps. Then we were the lucky dog there once. I had a fast truck, one of the fastest on the track there at the end but was one lap down. I was hoping for another caution but didn’t get it. We finished in the top 10 again, so all in all a great run.”

Brendan Gaughan won his fourth straight race in Texas. Travis Kvapil, Ted Musgrave, Carl Edwards and Andy Houston followed in the top five.

Driver: Bobby Hamilton, No. 4 Square D Dodge Team
Starts Pole Wins Top Fives Top Tens Earnings Points Position
22 0 1 7 15 $ 337,015 6th

Race-by-Race Run Down:
Location Start Finish Laps Status Money Won
Daytona 13 4 106 of 106 Running $ 26,000
Darlington 14 1 147 of 147 Running 39,075
Bakersfield 2 4 255 of 255 Running 12,650
Martinsville 2 5 250 of 250 Running 9,075
Charlotte 5 7 136 of 136 Running 11,325
Dover 1 2 200 of 200 Running 31,550
Texas 1 7 167 of 167 Running 14,450
Memphis 8 7 200 of 200 Running 11,825
Milwaukee 15 29 124 of 200 Engine 7,015
Kansas 5 16 166 of 167 Running 12,015
Kentucky 2 18 146 of 150 Running 14,240
St. Louis 5 14 159 of 160 Running 11,190
Michigan 11 10 100 of 100 Running 13,875
Indy 16 3 200 of 200 Running 21,890
Nashville 3 11 150 of 150 Running 9,000
Bristol 11 12 199 of 200 Running 9,715
Richmond 7 8 200 of 200 Running 8,950
Loudon 3 3 200 of 200 Running 26,890
California 15 16 98 of 100 Running 12,340
Las Vegas 19 10 146 of 146 Running 12,175
South Boston 7 8 253 of 253 Running 9,175
Texas 19 10 145 of 146 Running 12,595

Martinsville (Next Event)

Totals 3749 of 3833 (97.8%) $ 337,015

NEXT EVENT: The Advance Auto Parts 200 at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia on October 18, 2003. The event will be televised live on SPEED Channel at 12:30 PM Eastern Time and also live on MRN radio at 12:30 PM Eastern Time.