Confidence: “I have confidence in my team.  I’m not points racing until five races to go.  For some reason my team really shines on big race tracks right now and that happens to be where we are racing for the next several weeks.  I said back in Richmond, that if I could just get through that race and New Hampshire and hold onto the points lead, then we feel like we’re the guys to outrun.  That is a good feeling as an owner and a driver going in, especially this late in the season.”

One Week in Vegas: “This out west stint is hard on our pockets, especially since we stay in Vegas between the two events.  I send the teams to Vegas on Thursday so they can go through tech inspection on Friday.  Then we race on Saturday night.  After that the track stays open for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams to work on their trucks before going to California, the next race.  There is no way we can make the run back to Nashville and then turn the trucks around and get back to California in time.  So we stay in Vegas for the week and go straight to California from there.  It makes it easier on me as an owner to do it that way, but it’s hard on the team’s personal pockets because it gives them so much free time to gamble.  One day you are a winner in Vegas and the next day you are down, so it’s best to stay off the tables.  I tend to play my luck on slot machines.”

Notes:
• The truck Hamilton is racing in Las Vegas is Slim Shady.  The Square D Racing Dodge will be showing a slightly different paint scheme this weekend and next weekend in California.  The No. 4 truck will have flames on the hood, a paint scheme that Hamilton has always wanted on one of his trucks.  Although temporary, it will be flashy for night-racing action.   
• This is Hamilton’s 12th race in this particular truck. 
• His average finish in the truck is eighth place. 
• His best finish is first, in Memphis, Kentucky and Nashville. 
• His worst finish in the truck is 31st in Martinsville when a loose brake duct hose cut his tire.

Winston West Debut: Crew Chief Danny Rollins and some of the Square D Racing Team members had run a nighttime Winston West race in 1999 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with Bobby Hamilton Jr. as the driver.  Rollins said, “We wrecked somehow during the event and we told Bobby to come in so we could cut the fender off.  We threw the fender in the trash can and then he went back out for a restart.  Under the next caution we pulled the fender back out of the trash can, put it on the car and he ended up finishing third.”

Vegas Night Race: Rollins said, “It was pretty hot during the day and the times picked up a lot at night for the race.  The lights make it flashier like Vegas tends to be anyway, so it is fitting that we race there at night.  If it gives it more hype and brings out more fans, then we’ll put on a good show for them.”