Bobby Hamilton Jr (Ronda Greer Photo)

Bobby Hamilton Jr. survived a mid race post-Halloween scare when his No. 18 Fastenal Dodge was slammed from behind by another competitor on lap 62 of the Silverado 350 at Texas Motor Speedway. The Fastenal Dodge Racing team was able to overcome the three-truck incident involving Hamilton Jr., Brendan Gaughan and Bobby East and secure a solid 12th place finish in Saturday night's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event.

No. 18 Fastenal Dodge Texas Race Recap

Hamilton Jr. qualified his Fastenal Dodge in the 23rd position during the Thursday evening qualifying session. He toured the 1.5 mile quad-oval in 29.706 which translates into 181.781 miles per hour.

Hamilton Jr. had powered his Fastenal Dodge into the 15th position by lap 41 of the 147 lap event. He reported to his crew that his truck was "neutral getting into the corner and tight center off."

Hamilton Jr. pitted for the first time on lap 45. His crew changed four tires, added fuel and made an air pressure adjustment.

Hamilton Jr. climbed to the 13th spot by lap 60 and two laps later he narrowly avoided a race ending collision. Brendan Gaughan spun his No. 77 Dodge coming off of turn four and Hamilton Jr. expertly slowed to miss Gaughan's spinning ride. The No. 21 Ford piloted by Bobby East was unable to slow quickly enough and Hamilton Jr.'s Dodge was punted in the rear bumper area by East's careening Ford.

Hamilton Jr. and Crew Chief Danny Gill elected to keep the Fastenal Dodge on the racetrack and maintain track position despite the damage. NASCAR officials contemplated black flagging Hamilton Jr.'s Dodge on lap 83 for a dangling bumper support rod but decided to allow the Fastenal Dodge to continue.

Hamilton Jr. finally pitted under yellow on lap 94 after Rick Crawford slammed the wall hard bringing out the fifth caution of the event. His crew changed four tires, added a full complement of fuel, fixed the rear bumper and went down one pound of air pressure on the left rear tire. Hamilton Jr. exited the pits in the 13th position.

Hamilton Jr. maintained a 12th place running position during the last long green flag run of the race. When the caution flag fell on lap 142, his crew elected to bring him down pit road for a last gasp attempt to crack the top ten. They bolted on four previously used tires, added air pressure and took tape off the front grill. Hamilton Jr. left the pits in the 13th spot, losing one position under the strategy. When the race restarted for a green-white-checker finish Hamilton Jr. reclaimed the 12th finishing position on the last lap.

Clint Bowyer won the Silverado 350, posting his career-first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory before an estimated crowd of 66,000. He became the 12th different NCTS race winner this season. Kyle Busch, Mike Skinner, Jack Sprague and Ron Hornaday Jr. rounded out the top five finishers.