Bobby Hamilton is second in the Craftsman Truck Series standings. Credit: Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Hamilton needs another strong run at Kentucky

In midst of points battle, defending champ returns to friendly track

The Kentucky stop on the Craftsman Truck Series couldn't have come at a better time for Bobby Hamilton.

Hamilton, the defending winner of Saturday's Built Ford Tough 225, is coming off a tough 12th-place run last week at Kansas during which he fought a loose truck for much of the day.

What's more, Hamilton is in the midst of a fight for a second consecutive title. He enters the weekend's action second in the series standings, 38 points behind leader Dennis Setzer.

	Credit: Autostock
	Inside the Numbers Bobby Hamilton at Kentucky Year Start Finish Laps Led 2003 2 18 11 2004 3 1 133

Hamilton will need a good run to gain ground in the points. Setzer hasn't won at Kentucky but he's completed all 753 possible laps around the track, which translates into 1,129.5 miles. He's the track's leading money winner with $133,440.

That said, recent history is on Hamilton's side. Last year, he dominated at Kentucky, leading 133 of 153 laps and getting the better of Jack Sprague in a green-white-checkered finish.

"He passed me when I spun my tires on a restart," Hamilton said of Sprague, "but I didn't worry yet. At that time, I had led the most laps with an eight-second lead at times and thought well if I finish second it wasn't a bad night.

"Then the final caution came out. So I cleaned the tires and pushed under him in Turn 1. "I held it to the mat, he raced me clean and it was all she wrote from there. It was a fun win."

Things have been a bit rough for the defending series champion, as of late. In his past seven races, he's had just two top-10 finishes.

Still, confidence is high for the defending champ.

"It's a pretty cool deal to win there," Hamilton said. "I love that racetrack. I'm not going to do a back flip if I win it again, but we'll try to make a good race out of it."

Lester has a million reasons to smile

Kentucky Speedway will host a major milestone in NASCAR history Saturday when Bill Lester becomes the first black competitor to win $1 million during his career in the Craftsman Truck Series.

Lester, 44, has won $993,586 in 90 series starts dating to the 2000 season. He needs only to take the green flag to become the series' 27th driver to reach the $1 million mark.

The Oakland, Calif. driver, who currently resides in suburban Atlanta, comes off a career-best performance in last week's O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway. Lester won the Bud Pole, his second in the series, and finished fifth.

So he Said

The "third man" in SPEED Channel's broadcast booth at Kentucky will be Boris Said, a 64-race veteran of Craftsman Truck Series competition and winner of the 1998 event at Infineon Raceway.