Bailey’s driver Bobby Hamilton got hung on the outside of other competitors on lap seven in the Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway.  As a result he spun causing some damage to his No. 04 Bailey’s Dodge.  Hamilton sustained more damage later in the race when he got side swiped in a multi-truck accident, however the Tennessee native still muscled his way around the half-mile short track to finish 14th. 

“I was just trying to get down early in the race and lost control,” Hamilton said.  “It was way too soon to be racing like that, but I couldn’t get in line with anyone and was losing positions very fast.  So I tried to force my way down in front of someone and my truck spun around on me.  It’s typical of short tracks; you never have enough room to do what you need to do.” 

No. 04 Bailey’s Dodge Kroger 200 Recap

• Hamilton qualified his No. 04 Bailey’s Dodge in the sixth position.
• As soon as the green flag fell Hamilton, who started on the outside, tried to get down on the bottom of the track.  While battling in the in the top 10, he ducked in front of another competitor and spun himself out bringing out the first caution. 
• The Bailey’s Racing Team performed a timely pit stop, fixing the sheet metal damage and putting Hamilton back on the track with fresh Goodyear Wranglers in the 33rd position.
• By the second caution on lap 35 Hamilton asked to pit so the Bailey’s team could free up his Dodge in the middle of the turns.
• When the third caution came out all the leaders pitted and Hamilton stayed on the half-mile oval.  He restarted the race on lap 59 in the sixth position.
• Hamilton pitted once again on lap 105 under the fourth caution asking to be freed up.  He restarted on lap 110 in the 13th position.
• Before the sixth caution Hamilton was pushed out of the way by Ron Hornaday forcing him to be stuck on the outside again and lose several spots. 
• On lap 155 a multi-truck pile up blocked the track and caused several trucks to hit each other trying to miss the wreck.  Hamilton sustained more damage to the left side of his Bailey’s Dodge forcing him to pit.  The race was red flagged so the workers could clean up the debris.
• Hamilton restarted the race in the 26th position on lap 163 and in the final laps managed to pick up 12 positions to finish the race in 14th.

“I’m glad to be away from these short tracks this year,” Hamilton said.  “We ended up with a decent finish, but I know that we can do a lot better than that in these final races at the bigger tracks.  All in all it wasn’t a bad day for us as we picked up spots in the championship.”

Ricky Craven won the Kroger 200 after leading the most laps.  Todd Kluever, Brandon Whitt, Ted Musgrave and Kyle Busch followed in the top five.