Daytona Dčjá Vu for Bobby Hamilton Team Leaves NCTS Owner Cautiously Optimistic

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 12, 2002) - Don’t mistake Bobby Hamilton’s enthusiasm for over-confidence. After all, Hamilton - owner of the Dodge Ram driven by NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship leader Robert Pressley - has been there, done that.

A year ago, as in 2002, Hamilton’s No. 18 team exited Daytona International Speedway with the huge trophy, $80,000-plus winner’s check and the series point lead.

Ten months later, though, Hamilton and Joe Ruttman settled for - and were disappointed with - a third-place finish in the final standings.

“Winning Daytona for the second year in a row was great but we’ve got a long way to go this year,” explains Hamilton as competitors gear up for the season’s second race, Friday’s (Feb. 15) Craftsman Anniversary 200 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. “Robert did a great job at Daytona but we started in this position last year, too.

“We want to win this championship just like everyone else. At least now they know that they have to go through us to win the championship.”

Hamilton’s team, still hunting for a primary sponsor, has changed considerably from a year ago when Ruttman won twice, led the points entering September and fashioned a series-leading 20 top-10 finishes in 24 starts.

Pressley, a veteran of more than 400 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and NASCAR Busch Series, Grand National Division starts, has proved to be a fast learner winning in his first start.

Danny Gill, a winner with Hamilton in 2000, returns to the Mt. Juliet, Tenn.-based team as well.

Hamilton also has added a third team to his shops and having feedback from two other drivers - Bill Lester and Brian Rose - and their crew chiefs should produce dividends as the year unfolds.

“I feel like I’ve got a group of guys working on this team that are all on the same page so to speak,” says Hamilton, winner of the Darlington event in 2000. “Everyone knows what the goals of this team are and what it’s going to take to achieve them.

“It’s great as an owner to come into your race shop and see everyone working their butts off at one in the morning to make sure we win every race. It shows just how much they want it and that’s what it takes to be champions.”

Pressley, a 42-year-old, second-generation competitor, comes to Bobby Hamilton Racing hungry - to say the least. The Asheville, N.C driver, prior to his Daytona triumph, hadn’t scored a victory since his 1993 NASCAR Busch victory at New Hampshire International Speedway. Several disappointing NASCAR Winston Cup seasons were frustrating to one whose competitive fires still burn.

“I thought I could still win races but no matter how hard the team I was with last year tried, we never seemed to make the strides to be a winner and that was hard to handle,” admits Pressley, who finished 25th in last year’s NASCAR Winston Cup points. “The trick is getting with a group that can win every time out. Thankfully, I’ve found that very situation with Bobby’s team.

“I don’t care what series it’s in. It’s hard to win at Daytona and it’s a dream come true. Standing in victory lane with all the guys was a great memory and I can’t wait to get to the next race to win again.”

Pressley may not have to wait long, already having tasted victory at the 1.366-mile Darlington Raceway; arguably the most difficult venue the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series visits this season.

Pressley won consecutive races at Darlington in the NASCAR Busch Series, in the fall of 1992 and 1993, when he drove for Daniel Welch.

“In the NASCAR Busch Series, I was with a great team that was able to win races and that’s what every driver in the sport hopes for,” Pressley observes. “You never know if you’ve made the right decision but, after Daytona, I have to say that joining Bobby Hamilton Racing may have been the best thing I’ve had in awhile.”

That’s the understatement of the still-young NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season.