It took determination and will to withstand the loose condition under Bobby Hamilton’s BHR Dodge at Kansas Speedway.  Hamilton was persistent and it paid off when he finished the O’Reilly Auto Parts 350 in the 12th position. 

Hamilton qualified his No. 04 Dodge in the 25th position and when the green flag fell to start the race, he dropped all the way to the 36th spot.  “I’m so loose in traffic I can’t hold onto it,” Hamilton radioed.  Once the veteran driver got a few laps on his Goodyear Wrangler tires, it started to tighten the truck up and he picked up some lost positions. 

About the time Hamilton was being threatened by the leader to go one lap down, a caution came out.  So Crew Chief Danny Rollins called Hamilton into the pits.  Hamilton pitted for four fresh tires, a full load of fuel and meanwhile the crew members made a wedge adjustment to tighten it up.  Once again after the restart Hamilton dropped back until his tires wore in and then he managed to work his way up through the field again. 

Then the second caution came out on lap 51.  Hamilton said, “That changed helped me, but now I’m starting to get tight off.  I will ride it out and see what happens.”  The team anticipated a long green-flag run, so they call the driver into the pits for fuel only.  Then the race restarted on lap 55 and Hamilton radioed three laps later saying he thought he had a flat tire.  The crew assessed it from pit road while spotter Andy Dunlap radioed the right side tires looked good as well.  Hamilton rode it out in the back of the pack until the fourth caution came out on lap 66. 

One more time he brought the No. 04 Dodge in for fuel and fresh tires.  The team made more adjustments to help his lateral grip.  Hamilton restarted the race on lap 73 in 23rd.  He worked his way up to 17th position where he stayed for the next two cautions.  Each time he pitted for help with side bite. 

Finally the adjustments helped the driver pick up positions in the final 20 laps.  He worked his way passed four more trucks before the final green-white-checkered flag on lap 164.  In the final three circuits he passed Ted Musgrave to bring his Dodge home in the 12th spot.   

“We were so loose at the beginning, and then tight off at the end,” Hamilton said.  “My guys kept working on it and finally got us where I could pass people.  All in all it was a good day for us considering how we ran early on.  We’ll take this one and go to the next.”

Todd Bodine won the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250.  Todd Kluever, David Reutimann, Mike Skinner and Bill Lester followed in the top five.