Engine problems end Hamilton Jr.'s day early

JOLIET, Ill. -- Bobby Hamilton Jr.'s dream weekend at Chicagoland Speedway became a nightmare early in Saturday's Tropicana Twister 300.

After setting fast times for every practice session and setting a Busch Pole qualifying record with a lap of 183.611 mph, Hamilton was the odds-on favorite to repeat his 2003 victory here.

Instead, the Robert Yates Racing engine on Hamilton's No. 25 Ford expired just eight laps in, leaving him with a 43rd-place finish and effectively wrecking his hopes of getting back into the middle of the championship race.

Tropicana Twister 300 Justin Labonte celebrates his first NBS victory Play video Mike Wallace is upset after falling one lap short Play video Labonte and Wallace fight for the win in the closing laps Play video Truex Jr. gets loose and makes contact with Stremme Play video Parker and Hamilton Jr. have trouble early Play video  •  Unofficial Results  •  Unofficial Standings

"The car was there," Hamilton said. "We're just going through a run of bad luck with all our stuff.

"What do you do? You only have two great Ford engine builders in Roush and Robert Yates. At this time, the championship is out of sight so now you're just trying to win races."

It was the second time in the past four races that Hamilton was sidelined by engine problems.

"If we could just keep the motors together, we have the cars," Hamilton said. "If we can get that situation figured out, I think we'll be OK."

Going into Saturday's event, Hamilton was fifth in the points, 388 behind leader Martin Truex Jr.

"I could sit here and cuss and rant and rave and everything else and it won't fix my motor," Hamilton said. "It won't get me any more championship points, so what do you do?"

Hamilton dominated the 2003 race, leading 186 of 200 laps, and was expecting a similar situation Saturday. But while the race was barely a quarter of the way to completion, he was already in his street clothes and joining his wife Stephanie on their way to beat the race traffic.

"It was just a little free there at the start so I let (Kyle Busch) go," Hamilton said. "Going into three, it started rumbling ... and I told the guys, 'We've blown up.' And here we are."

Hamilton's finish was easily his worst of the season. In 18 previous races this season, Hamilton had posted nine top-10s and had not been worse than 28th at Kentucky Speedway.