NASCAR WCUP: Bobby Hamilton looks forward to return to Rockingham

CHARLOTTE, N.C., (Oct. 31, 2001) – Square D driver Bobby Hamilton has won at 
NASCAR’s biggest track, Talladega Superspeedway, as well as its smallest, 
Martinsville Speedway. He’s also won at in-between tracks, including the 
one-mile, high-banked oval at North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, North 
Carolina, where the NASCAR Winston Cup series returns for this weekend’s Pop 
Secret Microwave Popcorn 400.

In fact, the statistics show that the speedway known as "The Rock" is one of 
Hamilton’s best venues. He has posted six top-10 finishes in his last nine 
races at Rockingham, including his victory in the 1997 AC Delco 400. This 
past February, in only his second start in the No. 55 Chevrolet, Hamilton 
finished a strong 13th.

"I’ve won in Rockingham before and just like any of these other 42 drivers, 
I’d love to win again, Hamilton said. "Racing there will try anyone’s 
patience. It gets so slick. The whole time we’re racing, we’re thinking 
about preserving the tires. You have to drive the track, not other drivers."

Crew chief Jimmy Elledge and Hamilton met Tuesday to discuss this weekend’s 
race which eventually led to a conversation about their achievements in 2001. 
Hamilton recalled, "I walked into the shop and Jimmy handed me the qualifying 
setup sheet. I looked at him like he was crazy – I mean a driver making his 
own setup for a race? We sat down and talked about the last time we were 
there and how we could capitalize on our performance this time." Hamilton and 
Elledge ended up working out the qualifying setup together. 

Elledge reviewed with Hamilton the things he could control on the 1.5-mile 
oval: "If there are a lot of green flag runs and you’re losing time to the 
leaders, you can force their hand to pit. They can’t afford for you to be out 
there with newer tires for 10 laps longer then they are because you can make 
up so much ground. You really have to think about the racetrack, the strategy 
and everything about it." 

As for the season, Hamilton said, "We agreed that we’ve come a long way this 
year. At the start of the season we had goals in mind. Some we’ve made and 
others we haven’t. If we didn’t make a goal, we didn’t give up. If anything, 
it only made us stronger. 

"It always helps to be with a team that you get along with so well. 
Communication is a key factor," Hamilton continued. "Somewhere in the middle 
of the season we seemed to lose that and our finishes showed it. Andy 
(Petree, car owner), Jimmy and I sat down and discussed how we could be 
better and did whatever it took to make it work. 

"After that our finishes got better and the team got the morale booster they 
needed. Our engine program stepped up to the plate," Hamilton said. 
"Everyone, including myself, started looking at ways they could make this 
Square D Chevy go faster. It’s made the difference. 

"We have been strong week in and week out lately," Hamilton concluded. "We’ll 
try our best to put the Chevy in victory lane again before this season’s 
over. We’ve come close a couple of times, but we’ll get there again – it’s 
just a matter of time."