It didn’t take long for Square D driver Bobby Hamilton to make his way to the lead of the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway.  Hamilton, who started in fifth position, led for 15 laps and then settled in to cruise amongst the top six trucks.  Unfortunately both of the front tires on the Square D Racing Dodge went flat on lap 188 forcing the team to make a green-flag pit stop and fix the problem.  As a result Hamilton finished the event in 31st. 

The brake duct hose on Hamilton’s No. 4 Dodge broke loose at some point in the first half of the race.  The wiring which reinforces the hose was rubbing on the right front tire.  It eventually slit the tire and made it go flat.  Immediately Hamilton tried to cut in front of Jon Wood to enter pit road.  The two bumped fenders and Hamilton’s left front tire was struck in the mayhem.  As he pulled into the pit stall on lap 190 the front of his truck was completely dragging the ground. 

Quickly the team lifted up the truck and changed the left front tire.  Then the Square D Racing Team ran around the truck to change the right front.  Hamilton went back on the short track on lap 192 and a caution came out at the same time.  During the caution Hamilton radioed to his Crew Chief Danny Rollins and told him that something was broken or loose on the front end. 

So the team pitted once again on lap 195 to check the left-front heim joint.  It had broken as a result of the truck dragging the ground, and it caused the sway bar to come lose from the front end of the truck.  The team sent Hamilton back to the track so he could catch up with the field and give them a chance to make a plan on what to do.  He came back in on lap 197 and the team worked diligently to fix the Square D Dodge Ram.  They stayed on pit road for several laps making sure the job was done correctly, even after the race restarted. 

Hamilton went back on the .526-mile oval in 34th position on lap 208, 13 laps down.  He raced staying out of the way for the final laps and finished the event in 31st position.  Hamilton is now ninth in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Points battle.  He is 91 points behind leader Carl Edwards. 

“You can’t control stuff like that,” Hamilton said.  “The brake hose came apart, and there was no reason for it.  It spread open and the wire cut the right front down. We’ll just have to research and buy better parts.  It’s just one of those things that happens sometimes. We had a winning truck today. I drove it with one hand most of the day.  We took a hit in the points, but we’ve got plenty of racing left.  We’ve won two of the last four.  I’ll take that winning percentage the rest of the season and be happy.”

Rick Crawford won the Kroger 250.  Dennis Setzer, Jack Sprague, Jon Wood and Mike Skinner followed in the top five.