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July 29, 2002
Robert
Pressley Dominates Michigan 200 For Second Victory of the
Year
Click Here For Robert Pressley
Career Statistics
Robert Pressley and the No. 18 Square D Bobby Hamilton
Racing Dodge overwhelmed the competition at Michigan
International Speedway by leading 74
of the 100 laps run on Saturday enroute to victory lane.
"What a great day!" said Pressley. "This Square D Bobby
Hamilton Racing truck was awesome all day. We never made one
change during the race. We pitted for four tires twice, and
a drink of water. I just can't tell you what this means for
this team. A lot of people have counted us out of this
championship, but we can still win and they better be
looking over their shoulders. We've been on a roll since
Danny (Rollins) took over as crew chief, and he has this
team heading in the right direction. This is the first win
for us, but I think we have a lot more or these in us."
Pressley started the day from the eighth position after rain
washed out qualifying on Friday afternoon. When the race
started, Pressley wasted little time getting to the front,
picking off the guys in front to him. On lap 15, Pressley
took the lead for the first time and never looked back. The
only time the win was in question was after the last pit
stop of the day, when Pressley and the team took four tires
and everyone else took two tires. Pressley restarted
the race in 10th place after the stop, but in a mere 11 laps
he was back out front.
Over the last five laps of the race, Jason Leffler made a
run at Pressley, but to now avail. Pressley held off the
late charge and won for the second time this year. It also
moved the team up one position in the points standings to
seventh place, just 105 points behind the leader.
"Jason made a run at us at the end, but I had a little more
in the truck," said Pressley. "We picked up a little
vibration at the end of the race so I slowed down a little.
We still had a little more speed left in the Square D
Dodge."
The victory at Michigan on Saturday was not the first win of
the weekend for the No. 18 Square D Team. On Thursday, July
25, 2002 the team was at Dodge World Headquarters competing
in the pit crew challenge. They were able to defeat the No.
1 Mopar Team in the third round of the competition. The win
also meant that all three BHR teams have advanced to the
finals in Las Vegas in October.
Driver: Robert
Pressley, No. 18 Dodge Team
Starts Pole Wins Top Fives Top Tens Earnings Points Position
13 0 2 5 9 $ 313,240 7th
Race-by-Race Run Down:
Location Start Finish Laps Status Money Won
Daytona 10 1 100 of 100 Running $ 81,635
Darlington 3 2 147 of 147 Running 25,875
Martinsville 17 14 248 of 250 Running 7,365
St. Louis 7 31 141 of 160 Running 7,985
Pikes Peak 10 30 152 of 200 Engine 8,590
Dover 9 2 200 of 200 Running 32,875
Texas 3 6 167 of 167 Running 15,500
Memphis 7 12 200 of 200 Running 10,865
Milwaukee 8 7 203 of 203 Running 11,775
Kansas 7 7 167 of 167 Running 13,125
Kentucky 13 3 150 of 150 Running 37,875
Loudon 6 9 207 of 207 Running 11,525
Michigan 8 1 100 of 100 Running 48,250
IRP (Next Event)
Totals 2126 of 2251
(94.4%) $ 313,240
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Bill Lester Finishes as
Top Rookie With 15th Place Finish
Click Here For Bill Lester Career
Statistics
Bill Lester and the No. 8 Dodge Motorsports Bobby Hamilton
Racing Team recorded a 15th place finish after breaking the
rear sway bar around 70 laps into the event. It was also the
first time in 2002 that Lester finished as the top Rookie of
the Race.
"I'm very happy that we attained one of our two goals of the
race," said Lester. "We wanted to be the top rookie and
finish in the top ten. We got one of those goals and had we
not broken the sway bar, I think we had a chance at the
other. When the race started, I feel like I was a little
cautious because of not having a great deal of time on the
track because of the rain. Then when we got the truck better
and I started feeling more comfortable, the bar broke. But
at the end of the race we made a few changes and then we ran
our fast laps of the day. I had a chance to beat the No. 46
but he was making his truck wide. But he has a lot of
experience and I did not want to crash both of us. So I just
recorded my 15th place finish and kept the truck in one
piece."
Lester ran a very calculated race moving up when the
opportunity presented itself. Over the first half of the
race, Lester followed some of the veterans learning what he
could from them. By mid-race he had moved as high as ninth
place before having the sway bar problem. After that, he
continued his methodical race plan and by the time the race
had come to an end he had recorded his second lead lap
finish of the year.
"It was just another learning experience," said Lester. "We
ran well and got a lot of seat time and that is what we need
to do each and every week."
Lester moved up two positions in the Truck Series points
standings following the 15th place finish. He is now 16th in
the points standings, just four points behind his teammate,
Brian Rose, for 15th place, and 17 points behind Carlos
Contreras for 14th position.
Driver: Bill Lester, No. 8 Dodge Team
Starts Pole Wins Top Fives Top Tens Earnings Points Position
13 0 0 0 0 $148,385 16th
Race-by-Race Run
Down:
Location Start Finish Laps Status Money Won
Daytona 19 18 98 of 100 Running $ 15,165
Darlington 13 28 115 of 147 Running 7,090
Martinsville 13 25 230 of 250 Accident 7,865
St. Louis 12 17 158 of 160 Running 10,790
Pikes Peak 9 15 199 of 200 Running 11,690
Dover 22 12 197 of 200 Running 13,465
Texas 7 11 166 of 167 Running 13,350
Memphis 31 17 200 of 200 Running 12,065
Milwaukee 16 18 200 of 203 Running 9,665
Kansas 3 29 87 of 167 Vibration 9,295
Kentucky 3 14 149 of 150 Running 14,740
Loudon 20 14 205 of 207 Running 9,990
Michigan 19 15 100 of 100 Running 13,215
IRP (Next Event)
Totals 2104 of 2251 (93.4%) $ 148,385
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Brian Rose
Struggles to a 23rd Place Finish at Michigan
Click Here For Brian Rose Career Statistics
Brian Rose and the No. 4 Bobby Hamilton Racing Dodge
struggled all day long with an ill-handling truck and
finished a disappointing 23rd place. Rose began the race
from the 16th position after qualifying was rained out on
Friday afternoon.
When the race began, the truck began to handle poorly and
after several stops to make changes to the chassis set up,
the team just could not get Rose comfortable with the truck.
"We just had a bad day," said Rose. "I don't know what to
say. We just didn't have a good race. We tried everything we
could to get the truck handling, but nothing seemed to work.
We'll just load up and try and get them at IRP."
Rose remained in the 15th position in the NASCAR Craftsman
Truck Series points standings. Rose's struggles continue in
the middle of the season. Over the last four weeks Rose has
four finishes of 21st or worse.
"I don't know what is happening to our luck," said Rose. "We
were off to a great start to the season and at Milwaukee
everything just started going wrong. It's just been very
disappointing. Randy (Seals) has been doing everything he
can to get me in a good truck, but we just keep having weird
things happen to us."
Driver: Brian Rose, No.
4 Dodge Team
Starts Pole
Wins Top Fives Top Tens Earnings Points Position
13 0 0 1 5 $ 162,710 15th
Race-by-Race Run Down:
Location
Start Finish Laps Status Money Won
Daytona 4 3 100 of 100 Running $ 39,640
Darlington 18 8 147 of 147 Running 9,975
Martinsville 9 27 223 of 250 Running 7,815
St. Louis 27 8 160 of 160 Running 14,425
Pikes Peak 13 10 200 of 200 Running 12,675
Dover 15 30 49 of 200 Running 9,415
Texas 14 35 3 of 167 Accident 8,740
Memphis 13 10 200 of 200 Running 12,100
Milwaukee 12 19 200 of 203 Running 8,365
Kansas 16 21 157 of 167 Accident 10,515
Kentucky 19 24 144 of 150 Running 11,640
Loudon 10 25 195 of 207 Accident 7,015
Michigan 16 23 97 of 100 Running 10,390
IRP (Next Event)
Totals 1875 of 2251 (83.2%) $ 162,710
NEXT EVENT: Power Stroke 200 at Indianapolis Raceway Park in
Claremont, Indiana on August 2, 2002. The event will be
televised live on ESPN at 8:00 PM Eastern Time.
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