LOUDON, N.H., (Sept. 18, 2004) – After a delay of three hours and 45 minutes for rain, the Sylvania 200 finally got under way at New Hampshire International Speedway. Mid-race, Square D Driver Bobby Hamilton worked his way up to the second spot and stayed out to lead a lap in the 200-lap event when a miscommunication cost the team the win. Hamilton went on to salvage a 15th place finish and kept the points lead.
The race started under green and yellow conditions for the first 35 laps as NASCAR was trying to get the track dry and the race underway before dark. On lap 36 NASCAR threw the green flag and Hamilton rolled off 23rd where he qualified the day before.
By lap 57 he was up to 13th position. Then NASCAR threw a scheduled caution giving the teams time to work on their respective vehicles if needed. Crew Chief Danny Rollins called Hamilton into the pits and the Square D Racing Team cranked out a fast pit stop allowing Hamilton to resume his position on the race track for the restart on lap 70.
Hamilton had worked his way into the fifth spot by lap 88. Then the fifth caution of the race came out on lap 101. Hamilton radioed it was starting to get tight, but he was going to take care of his truck for the next several laps. Several teams pitted at this time, but the Square D Racing Team chose to stay on the track as they were too far out of their fuel strategy window.
Hamilton restarted on lap 109 in the second spot. Only a few laps later as the sun started to shine on turn two for the first time of the afternoon, he was battling door-to-door with driver Shane Hmiel for the lead. Before Hamilton could take the lead from Hmiel, Chase Montgomery spun bringing out the sixth caution on lap 117.
Rollins told Hamilton to stay out so he could lead a lap and get five bonus points toward the championship. Hamilton thought he was going to pit the next time a caution came out, so he began to talk over the radio. He said, “I can stay out this time, but don’t leave me out here too long so I don’t have enough laps to work my way up through the field before the end of the race.” Rollins wanted Hamilton to pit the next lap, but Hamilton was talking and Rollins had to wait his turn. Then Rollins explained to his driver, that he needed him to pit under this caution.
On lap 120 Hamilton drove on to pit road. As he was entering the pit lane, NASCAR told teams it was one lap till green-flag racing. Trying to save time, Rollins told the crew members to change right-side tires only. Then Hamilton exited pit road asking where his place was on the track. He was told to go behind Bill Lester’s 22 truck. As he was trying to find the “red” truck amongst several other red trucks on the track, he passed Lester. Then the race went green and Hamilton crossed the start/finish line in front of several others he was supposed to be behind. In all the confusion, NASCAR thought Hamilton was taking advantage of the restart. When in reality, he was confused as to where he was supposed to be.
NASCAR black-flagged Hamilton for a drive through on pit road because he passed people on the restart. On lap 124 Hamilton drove down pit road under green-flag conditions and still managed to drive out in front of the leader. Hamilton fell to 29th position and on lap 136 the seventh caution came out.
Rollins was concerned about the tire wear on the left side, so he asked Hamilton to pit for left sides only. Hamilton restarted in 26th position on lap 140. 15 laps later, he was already in 17th. He continued to race there until the final laps when Jamie McMurray and Shane Hmiel ran out of fuel allowing Hamilton to pick up two more spots to finish the race in 15th. He still leads the championship over Dennis Setzer and Carl Edwards by 30 and 39 points, respectively.
“We decided to stay out and get five bonus points because we were running so fast,” Hamilton said. “We thought we could pit and go back up through there. When we came in the pits, NASCAR told my guys I was supposed to go behind the 22. I’m just going by people (on the track) trying to find the 22 and they penalize me for jumping the start. I passed my 18 truck who said on the radio all day he had a broken axle or broken ratchet. I wasn’t jumping anybody. I was looking for the 22. I don’t think they gave us enough time to get that sorted out. It’s OK. It’s our fault. We don’t make many mistakes and when I get through with it we won’t make any more. That’s the way you win championships.”
Travis Kvapil won the Sylvania 200 at New Hampshire. Jack Sprague, Johnny Benson, Carl Edwards and David Reutimann followed in the top five.
