Defending NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Bobby Hamilton overcame a tight chassis condition on his No. 04 Bailey’s Dodge and an early scrape with the turn four wall to post a solid 13th place finish in the Power Stroke Diesel 200 at Indianapolis Raceway Park on Friday night. Hamilton maintained his third place position in the race for the 2005 NCTS championship and closed to within two scant points of 2nd place Ted Musgrave.

No. 04 Bailey’s Dodge Power Stroke Diesel Race Recap

• Hamilton started the race in the 3rd position when inclement weather forced a postponement of qualifying.

• On lap 23 Hamilton radioed his crew and informed then that his truck “spins the tires every now and then, if we raise the track bar we will be pretty good.”

• On lap 32, while running in the 5th position, Hamilton’s Bailey’s Dodge scraped the turn four wall after the back end came around. Hamilton was fortunate to only lose one position and he did not flat spot his tires.

• On lap 59 Hamilton’s Dodge was forced into a three wide scenario on the outside groove and he fell out of the top ten.

• On lap 102, during a long green flag run, Hamilton was passed by the race leader Dennis Setzer and fell one lap down.

• On lap 131 under green flag conditions, Hamilton brought his Bailey’s Dodge down pit road for four fresh Goodyear Wrangler tires, a full load of Sunoco fuel and a track bar adjustment (2 rounds up) designed to help free up his truck.

• On lap 170 while occupying the 13th position Hamilton radioed his crew “we might want to work some more on taking some bite out. It is still tight.”

• On lap 173 Hamilton, while running 11th, came to pit road for tires, fuel and a left rear air pressure adjustment. He exits the pits in the 13th position.

• On Lap 176 Hamilton dodges a bullet when several trucks stack up on the restart right in front of him. No caution flag is displayed and racing resumes.

• On lap 187 Kelly Sutton brings out the race’s fifth and final caution period with a spin on the backstretch. On the ensuing restart only five trucks remain on the lead lap.

• On lap 198 Hamilton battled with Terry Cook before finishing in the 13th position.

“We think something was locking up on the rear of our truck,” Hamilton said.  “We’ll get back to the shop and tear the truck down to find out for sure, but something kept making it really tight all through the race.  Nothing we did helped it and I could feel something wasn’t right in the rear all night.  We need to work through those things and learn from them.”

Dennis Setzer won the Power Stroke Diesel 200 before an estimated crowd of 42,500.  Todd Kluever, Ron Hornaday Jr., Matt Crafton and Jimmy Spencer rounded out the top five.