NASCAR WCUP: Hamilton Gets Another Finish at Lowes; Brings Home Chevy in One Piece
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
May 29, 2001
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – In the endurance race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Bobby Hamilton drove the No. 55 Chevrolet to 24th in the Coca-Cola 600, another top-25 finish in the 2001 season.
At the start of the 400-lap event, Bobby moved up through the pack, grabbing 20 positions by lap 50. He had one of the fastest cars on the racetrack, but soon began to get extremely loose.
In the first series of green flag pit stops, Hamilton stated, "It felt like we took 10 pounds of air out of the car." Hamilton held on until the next pit stop, which came under green on lap 171. Hamilton again said that this set of tires made the Square D Chevy extremely loose.
The Goodyear Eagles have been a good combination at other tracks this season. The finicky surface in Charlotte tended to be harsh to the fresh Goodyears, but improved with laps on them.
Finally the next caution flag came out when Hamilton’s son, Bobby Jr., hit the wall. This gave the Square D Racing Team a chance to check what was making Hamilton’s car so free. He came in six different times trying not to lose any more laps, only to find out that the rear wedge bolts were backing off.
The first stop the crew checked the fuel and freed up the track bar. In the next stop, they changed four tires and measured the distance from the bottom of the car to the ground. On the following stops the team took the rear window off to put a hose clamp on the screw jack, raised the hood to make sure the bolts were tight, measured all four tires and double-checked the track bar.
Hamilton stated under the next series of stops that his car was handling better. Elledge called for a stop and go for gas on lap 265. Then on the final routine pit stop on lap 332, Hamilton asked the crew to check the left rear bolt again because the car was getting loose. The team tightened Hamilton up, changed four tires and added 22 gallons of fuel. Hamilton powered the Chevy to another top 25, holding onto ninth in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series Points battle.
Jeff Burton won The Coca-Cola 600. Kevin Harvick nabbed the second spot, while Tony Stewart, who pulled double duty finishing sixth at the Indianapolis 500, followed in third. Mark Martin and Bobby Labonte rounded out the top-five.
Text provided by Lori Schuler
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