DETROIT (July 31, 2004) – On eight different occasions Square D driver Bobby Hamilton led for a total of 50 laps in the Line-X Spray-On Truck Bedliners 200 at Michigan International Speedway. Hamilton finished the race in the fifth position, after leading the most laps; and closed the gap in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series point battle to just 33 points behind Dennis Setzer.
Qualifying was rained out on the two-mile oval. Hamilton rolled across the start-finish line in second place at the start of the race and after one circuit around the track; he’d already taken the lead. Hamilton shuffled back and forth - sometimes three-wide in the opening laps until the first caution came out on lap 22 - right in the pit window for the Square D Racing Team. Hamilton asked for no adjustments and the pit stop went off without a hitch.
For the next two cautions, Hamilton stayed on the race track to save his last set of tires for the final laps of the 100-lap event. One circuit before the Square D Racing Team was forced to pit under green-flag conditions, the fourth caution of the day came out. The team did a collective sigh of relief and prepared for another fast pit stop.
Hamilton pitted on lap 69 in the second position and the Square D Racing Team cranked out a spectacular pit stop helping him resume the lead off pit road. Now it was all up to the driver. At times in the final 28 laps, the racing was so tight and drivers shuffled back and forth so much that the fans jumped to their feet in anticipation of the next turn. It was some of the best racing action so far in the 2004 Craftsman Truck Series season.
The Tennessee native held the lead until lap 78 when Bang Racing teammates Mike Skinner and Travis Kvapil ganged up on the savvy veteran shuffling him to third. By lap 84 he had taken over the second spot. Then on lap 89 he lost the position once again to Skinner. On lap 90 Hamilton’s tires started to become extremely tight. He was getting tighter and tighter every lap, but giving it his all to finish in the top five.
With only four laps left in the race, Hamilton went three-wide with Championship point leader Dennis Setzer and driver Johnny Benson. The trio shuffled each other around before each settled into their spot in the top ten. Hamilton was sixth with only two laps left in the race. On the final lap the veteran passed Carl Edwards to finish the race in fifth position, his sixth top five this year.
“We put a set of tires on there at the end that we knew the spring rate was a little tight,” Hamilton said. “We thought the racetrack would get looser toward the end, because of the way happy hour went. So we saved that set and it made us a little too tight. We just had a bad set of tires laid out there at the end. That’s all it was. We had the best truck, the fastest truck. We’ve got the best team, best driver; I don’t care what anybody says. It’s pretty cool.”
Travis Kvapil won the Line-X Spray-On Truck Bedliners 200. Ted Musgrave, Mike Skinner, Johnny Benson and Hamilton followed in the top five.