Hamilton, Jr. Powers To Third Place Finish In Talladega

You knew it was going to be a good day when Bobby Hamilton, Jr. blasted his way from 36th to 12th in just three laps Saturday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway. The Smithfield Foods driver was bound and determined to leave his mark on the Aaron’s 312 race. Over the course of the next two hours, Hamilton managed to steer clear of major accidents and keep his eyes focused on the front of the pack.

With less than 20 laps remaining, Hamilton became a serious player for the win. Agreements were being made and broken between cars as each driver jockeyed for position on the 2.66 mile track. On the final lap, Hamilton hung tough and followed David Stremme through the heavy traffic. He battled Jason Leffler for the final 1000 yards and claimed a strong third place finish. The finish placed Hamilton into the 10th position for the season long point’s race. Hamilton is the highest driver in points with less than ten starts.

Hamilton spoke to the media following the event.

“It was really mind-blowing was that you couldn’t get anything done on the outside. You had to have a ton of help. The track has just so much grip. But overall, like I said, you had to, once we got past that big one eliminating a lot of the cars, it was who could stick around the bottom and who’s going to make the move at the end. A lot of those guys took off for the high side. Matter of fact, I asked the 64, ‘What’s he doing? Is he going to go? Is he going to stay right there?’ And they said he’s going to wait until there’s two to go, and it happened with one to go. But, overall, it worked out for the Smithfield Ford.. Overall, it was a pretty good day. Talladega is simple: Put yourself in position and you’re going to have a shot at winning – well, maybe not at winning, because I don’t think anybody could touch the 20, but put yourself in position and you’re going to have a good day.”

The Nationwide Series will now move forward to the Richmond International Raceway for Friday night racing action.

BOBBY HAMILTON, JR., – No. 25 Smithfield Ford Fusion (finished 3rd) – “It was really wild. And, that was the wildest wreck. It was pretty wild as far as how it happened. The only other thing, too, that was really mind-blowing was that you couldn’t get nothing done on the outside. You had to have a ton of help. The track has just so much grip. But overall, like I said, you had to, once we got past that big one eliminating a lot of the cars, it was who could stick around the bottom and who’s going to make the move at the end. A lot of those guys took off for the high side. Matter of fact, I asked the 64, ‘What’s he doing? Is he going to go? Is he going to stay right there?’ And they said he’s going to wait until there’s two to go, and it happened with one to go. But, overall, it worked out for us. Overall, it was a pretty good day. Talladega is simple: Put yourself in position and you’re going to have a shot at winning – well, maybe not at winning, because I don’t think anybody could touch the 20, but put yourself in position and you’re going to have a good day.”

WHAT WAS THE MOST MIND-BLOWING THING ABOUT THE WRECK? WAS IT THE GUY TRYING TO GET INTO TRAFFIC AND NOT UP TO SPEED? THAT’S THE TERM YOU USED. “If I was going to blame anybody, it was the car that was coming on the race track. I mean, the field was coming and you’re already a lap down, so what’s the big hurry? It was an honest mistake. There’s no way Carl is going to take his stuff out like that. I don’t think was the spotter’s fault. I just think, I don’t know, impatience, as far as, ‘I’ve got to hurry up and get back out there and make up a lap.’ I mean, you’re already laps down, who cares? The coolest thing is Morgan Shepherd finished 10th (actually 13th) riding around, so he could’ve done the same thing, and not be in a big hurry and cause a big wreck. You can sit here and rear-quarterback it all day long as far as what he should’ve done, but Talladega is one of those places – it’s emotional, it’s frustrating, it’s all of the above. And if you can, like I said before, put yourself in position, you can have a good day.”

THAT LAST PUSH AT THE END; DOES THAT MOMENTUM CARRY OVER FOR YOUR TEAM WHEN YOU GET THAT CLOSE AT THE END OF A RACE AS BIG AS THIS ONE? “It gives momentum on everything. For instance, I guarantee you both guys moved up in points. The teams both have race cars that aren’t tore up. And to walk away with a top-five and a top-10 finish, it just steamrolls. And then you go to Richmond and if you can do decent there, then all of a sudden you’re just passing cars left and right, you’re doing everything – that’s how momentum gets started. Like I said before, if you could’ve told me that I was going to come in here and run in the top 10, I’d have laughed at you. ‘I’ll be the first one in the big wreck,’ because that’s the way my luck goes, but, yeah, it does. I guarantee you my guys have a different pep in their step when they go to Richmond, and then all of a sudden that bleeds off to your race car. And then the driver is pumped up from the week before. And then you look at the points and everything, it just builds your race team. It makes everybody more confident, and when they’re confident, they’re hard to beat.” (Ford Racing) (04-26-08)