2004 Series Champ Makes 100th Career NCTS Start

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitor Bobby Hamilton is hoping for a rare feat - a repeat of last year's win in the NCTS event at Daytona International Speedway. No NCTS driver has won back to back events at the storied 2.5 mile tri-oval, in fact no driver has won the event more than once since the initial series event at the venue in 2000. Hamilton is already slated to make history with his 100th career NCTS start and he knows that if he is to make it back to Victory Lane with his No. 18 Fastenal Dodge in the GM FlexFuel 250 on Friday night that strategy will play a larger than life role.

"It is hard to tell what the right strategy is here at Daytona," Hamilton said. "If your truck is real good you want to run to the front, but if it looks like it is going to be a really wild race then I will probably run and hide somewhere. I have already had a couple of drivers come and talk with me about it. Depending on who is in the field and who you have back there as a partner determines what you can do and when you can do it."

Hamilton, the 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, has even more reason to be optimistic for his upcoming race at Daytona. In the NCTS marquee race, BHR has posted three wins in the last five seasons (Joe Ruttman-2001, Robert Pressley-2002 and Hamilton-2005). With 19 total NCTS wins and one championship, BHR has established itself as one of the premier teams in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Recent history is even more promising. Over the past two seasons BHR has compiled more NCTS wins than any other organization with eight victories. With additional support from new sponsor Fastenal, Hamilton is looking for big things for the BHR contingent at Daytona.

"One of the big reasons we have had success here at Daytona is our people," Hamilton said during testing at DIS. "We just happen to end up with people who are really good on superspeedways and I am no dummy about them myself. I let them do a lot with the trucks at the shop but this is one race that I have always concentrated a lot of energy on. We used to worry about sitting on poles, things like that. Now we just worry about getting these trucks to drive good because you really don't have any business staying upfront all night because you can't. Nobody is that good anymore."

In 2006 Hamilton is juggling his role as the driver of the No. 18 Fastenal Dodge and the owner of Timothy Peters' No. 4 Dodge Motorsports Dodge and Scott Lagasse's No. 04 Dodge Motorsports Dodge. In addition to those roles he continues to play one of his most important roles, that of a father. Bobby Hamilton Jr. will run a number (10 at press time) of NCTS events in a BHR2 No. 8 Dodge, after running one race in the No. 08 TECH-NET Dodge at Daytona.

"I've got an even mix of drivers this year," Hamilton said.  "I've got the veterans with Bobby Jr and myself. I've also got the two young guys in Timothy and Scott.  It's a good mix.  We all drive a lot alike and so our styles on the track will really help when it comes to feedback on the trucks.  We have two bully veterans out there to teach two young anxious drivers so it should be pretty interesting.  Scott seems to really be fitting in well with our guys and Timothy made great progress last year, so this season should be even easier for him.  I know Bobby Jr. can handle the team, he was raised around most of them.  So I look forward to the part of being an owner and hopefully I can really enjoy what the rest of them accomplish on the racetrack."

Daytona Chassis: Bobby Hamilton will drive the chassis "Freak" at Daytona International Speedway in Friday Night's GM FlexFuel 250 . "Freak" has a star-studded past at D.I.S., where it has won three of the 6 NCTS races held at the 2.5 mile track - Joe Ruttman-2001, Robert Pressley-2002 and Hamilton-2005.

Video didn't kill the Radio star: 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion Bobby Hamilton joins racing expert Liz Allison on the Nashville, TN Radio station-1045 The Zone's "Driver Zone" radio show Monday, February 13. As a co-host for the NASCAR season. Hamilton brings his own working knowledge of the NASCAR world and a quick-witted perspective to the show. The "Driver's Zone" (10am-11am Mondays) debuted on 1045 The Zone January 30 with Liz Allison.  "I am thrilled to be sharing co-hosting duties with Bobby this year," says Allison, "I have known him for almost twenty years and have the utmost respect for him as a driver but more importantly as a person. Bobby has a way of explaining things that only a driver can do. With his hands-on approach and his candidness, the Zone listeners will get the best a race show can offer."

Bobby Hamilton on the start of the 2006 NCTS Season:
"I feel a little different about this racing season starting so soon. I know everyone talks about how quickly the off season goes by, but this year it did for sure at BHR.  At the end of last year and during the off season, we have grown our company into a four team stable.  That is a good thing and a bad thing.  The payroll is a bad thing!  The good part is that I have a great group of people that are all pitching in to work on each other's trucks and help make our entire organization get ahead.  It is overwhelming for me as an owner to look out at the shop and see all these new faces and then when it is lunch time watching them all leave.  That is when I realize how big my operation has grown.  It's good though, I'm not complaining.  Last year at this time I was hoping I wouldn't have to lay people off, and we stuck it out and thanks to sponsors like Fastenal and Dodge it has paid off.  Now because of all that our chances are better at winning, hopefully that will pay off as well."

Bobby Hamilton's 2005 NCTS Statistics

• Starts - 25
• Wins - 2
• Poles - 1
• Top 5's - 6
• Top 10's - 12
• DNF's - 1
• Pts. Pos - 6th

Bobby Hamilton's Career NCTS Statistics

• Starts: 99
• Wins: 10
• Top-Fives: 33
• Top-10's: 54
• Poles: 5
• Winnings: $2,2,06,643

Bobby Hamilton's 10 NCTS wins have come at: Martinsville on 4/10/00, Darlington on 5/12/2001, Darlington on 3/14/2003, Homestead on 12/14/2003, Atlanta on 3/13/2004, Memphis on 6/19/2004, Kentucky on 7/10/2004, Nashville on 8/14, 2004, Daytona on 2/18, 2005 and Mansfield on 5/15/2005.