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September 23, 2002
Three
Different Cautions Finally Ended Robert Pressley's Day with
a 24th
Place Finish at South Boston Speedway
Click Here For Robert Pressley
Career Statistics
Robert
Pressley and the Bobby Hamilton Racing Dickies Square D
Dodge Team saw their championship hopes take a blow on
Saturday afternoon at South Boston Speedway. Pressley
finished in the 24th position after the third accident of
the day left the No. 18 truck beyond repair.
"It just wasn't our day," said Pressley. "I think everything
that could have happen did happen to us today. This will
really make it hard to win the title, but we're not
completely out of it. We just need to win some races before
the end of the season for our sponsors."
Pressley began the event from the eighth position after
qualifying earlier in the day on Saturday. When the race
started, Pressley began to complain that the truck was just
too loose to drive. The crew told him that they would fix it
on the first pit stop. On lap 60, they got their chance.
Pressley came down pit road and the team changed tires,
added fuel, and made a chassis adjustment.
When the race restarted, Pressley was in 19th place because
many of the other trucks did not pit. That is when the day
started going downhill. Pressley was mired in traffic, and
while trying to get back to the front he made contact with
the No.39 truck and the ensuing crash sent the No. 18 truck
flying into the air and over the front of another
competitor. The damage was extensive to the suspension and
body. Pressley pitted several times for the crew to work on
the truck and amazingly they stayed on the lead lap.
When Pressley got back on track he was in 20th position, but
the truck was still not completely fixed. Later in the run
he spun out again and lost a lap to the leaders.
"The truck was just a handful to drive," said Pressley. "The
guys did the best they could, but it was hurt bad in the
front."
The final blow of the day came on lap 221, when a tire went
down in turn three causing Pressley to slam the wall and
ending the team's day with a crumpled Dickies Square D
Dodge.
The finish dropped the team to eighth place in the NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series points standing, 228 points out of
the lead. There are still 12 teams mathematically alive for
the title, but the No. 18 team's odds are getting a little
long.
Driver: Robert Pressley,
No. 18 Dodge Team
Starts
Pole Wins Top Fives Top Tens Earnings Points Position
18 0 2 6 12 $ 362,890 8th
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 4 5 200 of 200 Running 14,025
Nashville 4 9 150 of 151 Running 9,100
Richmond 11 15 199 of 200 Accident 8,765
Texas 11 7 146 of 146 Running 12,295
South Boston 8 24 241 of
257 Accident 5,465
Las Vegas (Next Event)
Totals 3062 of 3205 (95.5%) $ 362,890
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Lester Turns in a
Solid Performance at South Boston Speedway
Click Here For Bill Lester Career
Statistics
Bill Lester brought the No. 8 Dodge Motorsports Dodge home
in the 17th position after picking his way through the field
after starting in the 31st position in the Hardees 250 at
South Boston Speedway.
Lester struggled in qualifying for the event posting the
31st fastest time after the truck became very loose on his
qualifying run. But when the race started, Lester showed a
great deal of patience working his way through the field
without any major damage.
"After the last few weeks it was just good not to have
something bad happen to us," said Lester. "The last few
races have been hard on us so we had to get a good finish.
That was our goal this week. Most of the time I have not
looked forward to short track racing, but toward the end of
the event I was actually having fun out there. Maybe this is
the start of something good for me on the bullrings as they
say."
Lester and the team used pit strategy early to give him a
shot at a solid finish. With 20 laps completed in the event,
Lester pitted for fuel and a chassis adjustment, with the
hope of going the rest of the way in the race. After he was
passed by the leader and put a lap down, the strategy
changed to that of just finishing the race. From that moment
Lester raced with the trucks on his same lap and giving the
leaders room to race. This served him well as no one took
any shots at him and the No. 8 truck.
The finish helped Lester and the Team maintain the 17th
position in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points
standings.
Driver: Bill Lester, No. 8 Dodge Team
Starts Pole Wins Top Fives Top Tens Earnings Points Position
18 0 0 0 0 $184,580 17th
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 11 28 185 of 200 Accident 7,090
Nashville 12 16 148 of 151 Running 8,640
Richmond 18 36 5 of 200 Accident 5,215
Texas 6 28 49 of 146 Running 6,935
South Boston31 17
255 of 257 Running 8,315
Las Vegas (Next Event)
Totals 2746 of 3205 (85.6%) $ 184,580
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryan
Hemphill Recorded a Top Ten Finish in His First Race for
Bobby Hamilton Racing
Click Here For No. 4 Dodge Ram Team Statistics
Ryan Hemphill made the most of his first race with Bobby
Hamilton Racing and the No. 4 team by battling his way from
the back of the pack on two different occasions to finish in
the 10th position.
Hemphill and the team's day started a little rough when they
broke the engine in the first few minutes of practice. The
crew put in the back up and was able to get Hemphill out in
time to get a few laps of practice before qualifying, but it
was nothing compared to the two hours of practice that the
other competitors received.
When Hemphill qualified the truck in the 12th position later
that same morning it became very apparent that he and the
team had a strong truck for the race that afternoon. When
the race started, Hemphill was relegated to the 36th
position after an unapproved engine change so his work was
cut out for him. Hemphill began moving up immediately when
the green flag flew, and by laps twenty he was in 27th place
when he pitted for fuel.
On the restart, Hemphill started from the 22nd position and
began his march to the front. It took over 70 laps but he
steadily moved his way up to fifth place. On laps 106, the
caution flew and Hemphill was running in the fourth
position. He would hold that position until lap 150 when he
accidentally hit the kill switch on the steering column.
Hemphill rolled into his pit stall dead in the water. His
crew jumped into action getting the truck back under power
and on the track without losing a lap. When the race
restarted, Hemphill was in the 19th position. From that
point on he began his second run to the front. Throughout
the final 100 laps
he picked trucks off one by one until he was racing for the
top ten with the laps winding down. Then when the yellow
flag flew late in the race, forcing a green-white-checkered
finish he made his move for the top ten, which is exactly
where he finished.
"The big secret today was just being able to stay on the
lead lap," said Hemphill. "We had some bad luck having to
start last after a great qualifying run that would have put
us in 12th place. We managed to stay on the lead lap because
the crew was giving me excellent pit stops all day. We were
running really well. I believe we had a third place truck
for a while. The crew gave me a great Dodge to work
with and then it just went away late in the race. It died
coming off of turn three, so I had to come into the pits
because it just shut off. I started back up, but that put us
in the rear again. We came back from that, but I had to run
the end of the race with a flat left rear tire and that just
killed me. Man, it was just a long day. But we did what we
wanted as far as finishing strong our first time out."
Hemphill moved to the 44th position in the NASCAR Craftsman
Truck Series points standing with only three starts this
season.
Driver: Ryan Hemphill, No. 4 Dodge Team
Starts Pole Wins Top Fives Top Tens Earnings Points Position
3 0 0 0 1 $29,555 45th
Race-by-Race Run
Down:
Location Start Finish Laps Status Money Won Driver
Daytona 4 3 100 of 100 Running $ 39,640 Brian Rose
Darlington 18 8 147 of 147 Running 9,975 Brian Rose
Martinsville 9 27 223 of 250 Running 7,815 Brian Rose
St. Louis 27 8 160 of 160 Running 14,425 Brian Rose
Pikes Peak 13 10 200 of 200 Running 12,675 Brian Rose
Dover 15 30 49 of 200 Running 9,415 Brian Rose
Texas 14 35 3 of 167 Accident 8,740 Brian Rose
Memphis 13 10 200 of 200 Running 12,100 Brian Rose
Milwaukee 12 19 200 of 203 Running 8,365 Brian Rose
Kansas 16 21 157 of 167 Accident 10,515 Brian Rose
Kentucky 19 24 144 of 150 Running 11,640 Brian Rose
Loudon 10 25 195 of 207 Accident 7,015 Brian Rose
Michigan 16 23 97 of 100 Running 10,390 Brian Rose
IRP 10 30 170 of 200 Suspension 7,045Bobby Hamilton
Nashville 7 4 151 of 151 Running 10,375Bobby Hamilton Jr.
Richmond 7 14 199 of 200 Accident 6,315Bobby Hamilton
Texas 13 11 145 of 146 Running 10,945 Joe Ruttman
South Boston12 10
257 of 257 Running 10,250 Ryan Hemphill
Las Vegas (Next Event) Ryan Hemphill
Totals 2797 of 3205 (87.2%) $ 207,640
NEXT EVENT: The Orleans 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in
Las Vegas, Nevada Virginia on October 13, 2002. The event
will be televised live on ESPN at 5:00 PM Eastern Time. |
