NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitor Bobby Hamilton Jr. avoided a myriad of on-track mishaps and used considerable patience to post a strong 9th place finish in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Wednesday night. It was Hamilton Jr.’s second straight solid run in the No. 18 Fastenal Dodge.

“I am really, really happy with the Fastenal Dodge tonight,” Hamilton Jr. said in the garage area after the event. “Typical Bristol race, we have some doughnuts on the side of our truck from some side by side contact but no significant body damage and that is good for this short track. It is great to get a solid top ten and now we can look forward to New Hampshire and having another good run there.” 

No. 18 Fastenal Dodge Bristol Race Recap

• Hamilton Jr. qualified his Fastenal Dodge in the 10th position, touring Bristol Motor Speedway’s .533 mile tight oval in 15.538 for an average speed of 123.491mph.

• When the race’s second caution came out on lap 28 Hamilton Jr. was running in the seventh position. He radioed his crew and notified them that the Fastenal Dodge was “a little tight.” Leader Mark Martin and several other competitors headed down pit road while Crew Chief Danny Gill elected to keep Hamilton Jr. on the racetrack and as a result he restarted in the 4th spot.

• By lap 59 Hamilton Jr. was running in the third position.

• When Ryan Moore spun his No. 40 truck in turn four to bring out the race’s third caution flag of the evening, Hamilton Jr. dove down pit road for his only pit stop of the race. His Fastenal Dodge crew changed four tires, made an air pressure adjustment and added a full complement of fuel. He restarted in the 18th position as others chose not to pit at this time.

• Hamilton Jr. started a steady march back toward the top ten. He was 15th by lap 75, 13th by lap 100 and back up to the 10th spot in the running order by lap 125.

• The Fastenal Dodge was able to avoid damage from any of the remaining caution flag incidents over the last 75 laps and Hamilton Jr. finished in the ninth position.

“Our Fastenal Dodge was really receptive to the changes we made tonight.” Hamilton Jr. said following the event. “We are really working hard to get these trucks driving good. We are trying to build up some momentum and we are doing a lot of testing for 2007.”

Mark Martin won the O'Reilly 200 before an estimated crowd of 64,000, posting his fourth NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory. Todd Bodine, Ted Musgrave, Johnny Benson and David Starr rounded out the top-five finishers.