Bobby Hamilton Jr.’s bad luck started early in the Con-Way Freight 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday afternoon.  Hamilton Jr. was clipped in the right rear quarter panel by rookie David Ragan as the field stormed by the flag stand to complete lap 5.  Hamilton Jr. did an admirable job of keeping his Fastenal Dodge off the concrete retaining wall during his wild slide, but the damage he suffered in contact with Ragan and the ensuing spin were enough to adversely affect his day.  As a result, Hamilton Jr. finished in the 28th position.

• Hamilton Jr. qualified his Fastenal Dodge in the 30th position.

• On lap 5, Hamilton Jr. collided with David Ragan on the frontstretch causing significant right rear quarter panel damage to Hamilton Jr.’s Dodge and left front hood damage to Ragan’s Ford.

• Hamilton Jr. came down pit road on lap 7.  His Fastenal crew changed four tires, added fuel, and went to work repairing the right rear quarter panel damage.  The crew also added a full spring rubber in the left rear.

• On lap 11, Hamilton Jr. once again came down pit road for fuel and another chassis adjustment – two rounds in the left rear and five rounds down on the track bar.  Hamilton Jr. informed his crew on the radio, “I can’t get on the gas at all, the truck gets down in the corner and just wiggles.  If I try to go to the throttle, it just jumps sideways.”

• Hamilton Jr. pitted again on lap 37 for four tires and fuel, and the crew added one round in the left rear.  He came into the pits in the 23rd position and exited in the 27th spot.

• On the ensuing green flag run, Hamilton Jr. informed his crew that his Fastenal Dodge was “really loose, I can’t get into the corner and I can’t use the throttle.  We need to do something big.”

• On lap 69, Hamilton Jr. pitted under caution.  The crew changed four tires, added fuel, increased the air pressure in the left front and right rear tires, took two rounds out of the right rear, dropped the right side track bar, opened the left front shock, and closed the right front shock.

• The Fastenal racing crew elected to pit once again on lap 71 and drop the left side track bar.

• Hamilton Jr. came back down pit road on lap 76 for additional track bar adjustments, and the crew added a spring rubber.

• As the laps wore down, Crew Chief Danny Rollins speculated to his driver “that as loose as this truck is, we may have broken a locker gear when the truck spun early in the race.”

• Hamilton Jr. hung on for the last few laps and finished in the 28th position.

Johnny Benson won the Con-Way Freight 200 in front of an estimated crowd of 60,000 sun drenched NASCAR fans.  Mark Martin finished second, and Bobby Labonte, Todd Bodine and Matt Crafton rounded out the top five.  The next event for the NCTS competitors is the Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200 at The Milwaukee Mile on June 23rd.