With only one caution during the 200-lap Toyota Tundra  Milwaukee 200 Bobby Hamilton raced his way from his 20th starting position to finish the event in the sixth spot, the same place he finished last year on the Milwaukee Mile. 

Hamilton qualified for the event earlier in the day and said his truck was extremely loose during his two hot laps.  The No. 04 Dodge started in the 20th position, but once the green flag dropped, it was a steady uphill climb from there. 

By the time Hamilton was almost out of gas on lap 80, Crew Chief Danny Rollins called him into the pits under green-flag conditions.  Hamilton had worked his way up to the eighth position and after all the stops cycled out, he remained in the top 10.  The driver asked his team to help his loose truck during the quick stop, so they made a track bar adjustment to aid his loose condition.  Then after the stop, Rollins assessed the tire wear on the Goodyear Wranglers and informed his driver, “You had a left rear tire going down.  It only had nine pounds of air left in it. I can’t believe it was still going.”

By the time the halfway point of the race came out on lap 100, Hamilton was still in the top 10 and because the leader Dennis Setzer was setting a rocket-fast pace, there were only five trucks left on the lead lap.  Then on lap 142, the first and only caution came out.  Hamilton used this time to radio Rollins and ask for more help.  “I am loose in traffic and don’t have any forward bite.  When I am under someone it sucks it around.”  Rollins called for more adjustments while the team quickly changed four tires, added fuel and gave the driver some cold water to drink.

Hamilton restarted on lap 144 in the eighth spot.  He worked his way by Steve Park on lap 157 and then by David Reutimann on lap 159.  Then the driver battled through lapped traffic in the final laps of the race to finish in sixth position. 

“We just didn’t have the perfect setup under it,” Hamilton said after the race while he cooled off.  “I just couldn’t touch the gas under anyone or it would get loose.  It was a solid finish, so not a bad day overall.  The guys worked on it and got it better at the end, but we didn’t have enough time to get through all the lapped traffic and make it work for another position.”

Dennis Setzer won the Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200, his second win in a row.  Jack Sprague, Ted Musgrave, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Brendan Gaughan followed in the top five.