"We are very happy with the results," Hamilton said of his cup efforts.  "I know we had all the cards stacked against us to even make the race, but it says a lot for our team to finish this event in one piece and be able to compete with the Nextel Cup field.  I'm proud of the guys for sticking with it and making the changes we did to get us up through the field.  It was our first race, so we'll get better in time."

No. 04 Bailey's/Hunter Barge Dodge Allstate 400 Recap

• Hamilton started the race in the 35th position and on lap 3 he tried to pass Boris Said on the outside and got loose before falling back in line.
• On lap 9 Hamilton radioed that he had a real bad vibration from a tire and decided to pit under green before blowing one out.  He lost one lap to the leaders.
• The first caution came out on lap 22 when Bobby Hamilton Jr. blew a left front tire.  The elder Hamilton was granted his lap back from the "Lucky Dog" and then pitted for four fresh tires and fuel.  The team made adjustments to free up the Bailey's/Hunter Barge Dodge off the corners. 
• The second caution came out on lap 37 and just in time for the BHR team to remove some plastic from the grill that was overheating the motor.  Once again they made an adjustment to the track bar and added cross to the Dodge.
• Hamilton pitted three more times during the next three cautions to make more adjustments to the Dodge.  The team worked on the front fender that Hamilton had dented in while racing competitively with Boris Said.  Each time Hamilton dropped to the rear to see what his Dodge would do working through the traffic.
• On lap 62, several cars piled up in front of Hamilton but he remained unscathed in the accident.
• Under the next caution on lap 73 Hamilton said his car would not turn at all now.  The team made an adjustment to the left side shock and track bar.
• During the next two pit stops Hamilton said the adjustments were really helping his Dodge.  The team made air pressure adjustments and Hamilton picked up one position each lap during the green flag runs.
• On lap 144 while running in the 25th position, Jimmie Johnson wrecked in front of Hamilton.  While trying to miss the accident, Hamilton ran through the grass.  The team gave him four fresh Goodyear Eagles and a full load of Sunoco gas.  Hamilton restarted in the 28th position. 
• He managed to pick up one more spot in the final laps to finish the Allstate 400 in the 27th spot.

"It was good to get back behind the wheel of a Cup car," Hamilton said.  "I'm not sure if we will do it again, but it's something that we are looking at for future races.  We now know what the car will do and we'll get better if we decide to run again.  The guys had a lot of fun and the pressure was not as bad as the Craftsman Truck Series because we didn't have a lot to lose during the race.  It's good to know that our team can build a car that can compete at this level and make it work during the race."

Tony Stewart won the Allstate 400 in front of an estimated crowd of 280,000 fans.  Kasey Kahne, Brian Vickers, Jeremy Mayfield and Matt Kenseth followed in the top five.