Bobby Hamilton Jr. battled intense heat, a slick racetrack, and a set of very worn Goodyear tires to post a hard-fought 15th place finish in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway on Saturday afternoon.  Hamilton Jr. climbed as high as seventh position but could not hold off the competitors with fresher tires over the last 20 laps.

No. 18 Fastenal Dodge Kansas Race Review

• Hamilton Jr. qualified his Fastenal Dodge in the 19th position on Friday evening.
• Through the first 30 laps, Hamilton never strayed far from the top 20, claiming his truck was “tight center off, I just don’t have enough grip.”
• On lap 30, rookie Joey Miller lost control of his Toyota coming off turn 4 and slid up into Hamilton Jr.’s Fastenal Dodge.  Hamilton Jr. brought his Dodge down pit road under caution for four fresh Goodyear tires, fuel, and a couple of chassis tweaks – down on air pressure and a track bar adjustment.
• Those adjustments by crew chief Danny Rollins seemed to take hold as Hamilton Jr. started steadily clicking off positions, moving up from the 25th spot to 20th.
• Hamilton Jr. once again came down pit road on lap 81.  His Fastenal Dodge racing team went three rounds up on the track bar, made another air pressure adjustment, changed four tires, and added a full load of Sunoco fuel.  He exited the pits in the 19th position.
• On lap 103, the race was red-flagged due to a vicious wreck on the backstretch by Kelly Sutton.  Once the red flag was lifted, Hamilton Jr. brought the Fastenal Dodge down pit road for his last set of tires and fuel.  He exited the pits in the 18th position.
• On lap 123, Hamilton Jr. informed his crew, “This set of tires doesn’t feel like the last set, we are a little loose, on the edge like I’m rolling over on the right rear.”
• During a caution with 22 laps to go, a majority of the leaders came down pit road for four tires and fuel.  Hamilton Jr. restarted in the 7th position but ultimately could not hold off the brigade of trucks with fresher tires.  As a result, he finished in the 15th position.

Terry Cook won the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 breaking a 94 race winless streak in front of sun baked and heat scorched crowd of 81,687. Rick Crawford, Marcus Ambrose, Brendan Gaughan and Mike Skinner completed the top-five.