Bobby Hamilton Jr. and his Fastenal Racing team battled with a field of 35 other competitors and with the chassis of his own Dodge Ram in Saturday night’s Built Ford Tough 225 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Kentucky Speedway. After wrestling with his own 3,400 pound beast for nearly two hours, Hamilton Jr. recorded a 24th place finish.
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No. 18 Fastenal Dodge Kentucky Race Review
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• Hamilton Jr. made his first pit stop on lap 21 to make a chassis adjustment – two rounds down on the track bar.
• The second pit stop under caution came just eight laps later. Hamilton Jr.’s crew changed four tires, added fuel and added two rounds of bite in the right rear.
• At the 50-lap mark, Hamilton Jr. radioed his crew that the Fastenal Dodge was “really loose on entry.”
• Hamilton Jr. once again came down pit road on lap 57, and his crew opened the hood of the Fastenal Dodge to make a shock absorber adjustment on the front, designed to aid his loose condition. Hamilton Jr. exited the pits in the 23rd position.
• On lap 89, Hamilton Jr. informed his crew that the loose condition on entry was better but that his Fastenal Dodge was “tight center off.”
• The leaders of the race began pitting on lap 97 under green. Hamilton Jr. and his crew elected to stay on the racetrack hoping for a fortuitous caution flag that never materialized. Hamilton Jr. was forced to pit for gas and tires under green flag conditions on lap 110 and lost a lap to the leaders as all the pit stops cycled through.
• Hamilton Jr. pitted again on lap 125. The crew raised the hood to make another shock adjustment and they also made a track bar adjustment.
• When the caution flag fell on lap 129, crew chief Kip McCord called his driver down pit road for yet another shock adjustment.
• Hamilton Jr. made his last pit stop on lap 139 of the 150-lap event. The team went two rounds down on the right-side track bar and cranked three rounds of wedge in.
• At the end of the race, the Fastenal team received some encouraging words from team owner and 2004 NCTS Champion Bobby Hamilton Sr., who was making his first appearance at the racetrack since the St. Louis race in late April. Hamilton Sr. reminded his team that “better days lie ahead.”
Ron Hornaday Jr. won the Built Ford Tough 225 his second NASCAR Craftsman Truck race of the season and his 29 series career win. Rick Crawford, Brendan Gaughan, Johnny Benson and David Ragan rounded out the top-five finishers.
