PHOENIX, (Nov. 5, 2004) –Square D Driver Bobby Hamilton finished seventh in the Chevy Silverado 150 at Phoenix International Raceway and as a result of his 15th top-10 finish, he got back the points lead. With only two races left in the season, both of which Hamilton won last year, the Tennessee native is seven points over Dennis Setzer.
The savvy veteran qualified for the event in the eighth position. In the first few laps of the race, he settled in around the 11th spot. By the time the first caution came out on lap 41 Hamilton was asking his Crew Chief Danny Rollins for more forward bite. “I need to rotate better in the middle, but don’t make a big change on me here,” Hamilton said. “Pull some tape off, it is running hot.”
The Square D Racing Team was ready when Hamilton entered the pits on lap 43. They ran around the truck changing the two right side tires and then back around to the left side to replace those Goodyear Wranglers. While on the left side, in both the front and the rear, some of the lugnuts fell off when the changers pushed the tire on the stud. It cost the team, who has not had a problem all season, a little time but only one spot on the track. Hamilton restarted 12th.
In the next several laps, Hamilton tried to spread himself out from the other trucks to cool off his motor. He did not have a problem at this time, but was trying to prevent the motor from overheating. By the fourth caution on lap 108 he had moved up to the ninth position. Hamilton asked Rollins to give him some more side bite. Rollins called for the left side tires to be dropped down one pound before Hamilton pitted.
Once Hamilton drove into his pit stall and stopped on lap 110, Ken Schrader parked diagonal into his own stall in front of him. The Square D Racing Team cranked out a fast pit stop and then jumped up to help Hamilton back up to go around the No. 52 truck who was blocking him in the pits. Now with the sun setting behind the grandstands, Hamilton worked his way to the front in the final 33 laps.
Hamilton raced patiently in the ninth position until lap 142 when he made a smooth move around two trucks, making it three wide in the turn, and taking over the seventh position where he finished the race. The points leader is ahead by seven points but travels next week to Darlington where he won last season with a trick move past Ted Musgrave.
“I just sort of kept my nose clean,” Hamilton said. “We ran hot, and it was sort of a blessing in disguise because it got so wild up there. We just backed out of that. I decided just to run around right in 14th place – there was a little gap there – and then just see what I could get at the end. The No. 46 got by me and then we had enough left at the end to get back by him. So, it was a good day for us. That’s the big thing.”
David Starr won the Chevy Silverado 150 at Phoenix International Raceway. Jack Sprague, Matt Crafton, Shane Hmiel and Johnny Benson followed in the top five.
