I am pretty pleased with our California effort. We think we had the truck to beat, but had some problems early in the race so we were set back. At the end of the race we were turning the fastest laps. I was really happy for Steve Park, that makes two weeks in a row with Dodge finishing one and two.
A lot of people have commented on our strategy at Daytona and in the race at California. We go when it's time to go. We've got a real good race team, I think we're in pretty good shape and I'm proud of my guys. When these Bailey's trucks drive like this, they're fun. When they drive bad, they're not fun. We're having a blast. We haven't set any goals. We're just out here having fun and making a living.
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Emmett Byrd Photo |
The California race was interesting for us, it was a bit of a challenge. Our motor ran hot and we had to take it easy. We had to short pit and the caution came out which put us a lap down. We didn't panic; we used it to our advantage. We used the time to cool the motor down. I knew we could make up our lap, our truck was that good. It was so good that we never made an adjustment to the truck all night. I was scared after we ran hot not to put water in it, so we put water in just to make sure we didn't overheat it.
We actually started in the back twice at California and raced our way up there. Then we got in a position to get the Lucky Dog. I had a very fast truck. It was easily two or three tenths quicker than the guy that won the race. We had all that track position to make up, so to me, I felt like we won it. I'm pretty happy for our sponsors, last week we had a great run with the Lufkin Pro Series Dodge and this week we had Bailey's onboard for the first time on my truck. My guys worked hard on it, but the thing that's cool about it is that Dodge has been 1-2 the past two weeks.
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Emmett Byrd Photo |
Joey Arrington builds our motors as he does for the Ultra trucks, and those things are almost bullet proof. It was pretty exciting at times. I think we went off in the corner three or four wide, but the track was pretty forgiving. It was slick up at the top, but if you had to go up there it wasn't like you were going to kill yourself. You don't have time to ride around here like you do in those Cup races. You've got to go wide open all the time. It's like a huge heat race or something.
Overall I am really pleased with the weekend. Casey Atwood did a great job in the other Bailey's Dodge, he finished 11th, and now both of those Dodge's are in the top-ten in points. Chase Montgomery had some more bad luck in the 18 but Kip McCord and those guys worked their tails off to get him back in the race and get some more points. Chase is a heck of a driver, he just needs some luck and to finish the next couple of events. They'll be fine.
We are looking forward to Atlanta. We had an exciting finish there last year and we would like to repeat as the winner of the race. It is a great facility, Ed Clark and his staff do a great job. The trucks put on a heck of a show there. It is a great place to watch a truck race.
Thanks for stopping by!
- Bobby Hamilton, No. 04 Bailey's Racing Dodge
2004 Champion NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Owner and Driver
www.bobbyhamiltonracing.com
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