Sporting new colors from Dodge's newest ride, The Journey, Dennis Setzer used his veteran driving skills to dodge numerous wrecks and use the low lane to his advantage to score a 10th place finish in the Chevy Silverado 250 at Daytona International Speedway.
The sixth and final caution waved on lap 88 for an accident in turn four. Knowing the final laps would be a shoot out Setzer came down pit road for fresh rubber. After receiving four fresh tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment he returned to the track in sixth spot.
In the final 10 laps Setzer made his biggest charge of the night towards the front. He jumped to the high side to help push teammate Stacy Compton past the leaders, but was unable to make his Journey Dodge work on the top lane. Despite getting up as high as fifth spot Setzer was forced to the low lane and fell in line. He scored a 10th place finish after staring 17th. It was Setzer's best finish at Daytona since 2004.
The No. 4 Open Joist Dodge truck should have a familiar ring to it. The Grand Rapids-based Universal Forest Products, Inc., has renewed its marketing alliance with Bobby Hamilton Racing (BHR) this season, and it will be promoting its Open Joist product on the truck. Open Joist is a versatile, open-web, all-wood floor truss. Universal broke into Craftsman Trucks last year with BHR, which lost its founder, Bobby Hamilton Sr., in January of 2007 to cancer. The team drove on despite losing Hamilton, who won the 2004 championship. Last year proved to be a transitional season in which a handful of drivers took turns racing the Open Joist truck, but things are looking up in 2008.
Stacy Compton has been hired to race the Open Joist Dodge full-time, and after clocking in fifth fastest last weekend in a Daytona test session, he said he is confident 2008 will be a competitive one for him and his team.
Universal was founded in 1955 and now has over 100 facilities in the United States, Canada and Mexico. It will be investing in other racing marketing opportunities, too.
"The exposure we have received for the Open Joist brand with this investment is something we would never get in other mediums if we spent the same amount of money," said Larry Kroh, the Open Joist sales manager. "Renewel is the key to keeping this credibility going. We have the opportunity to build brand recognition even more."
" DAYTONA BEACH -- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Dennis Setzer came to NASCAR Preseason Thunder testing on the red eye. It wasn't an early-morning flight that had Setzer's eyes red -- Setzer actually got up at 4 a.m. Saturday to drive here from North Carolina. It was because of the emotions of leaving behind his ailing mother. The 11th-hour commute was necessitated by the illness of Tommie Setzer, who suffered a stroke Wednesday night during emergency surgery for kidney stones.
"I've been with her all day and all night, and her mind's very good right now. The next couple of days are really critical, but there's no decline and she's doing OK," Setzer said. "Her left-side motor skills are paralyzed right now and we'll see how that comes back. We don't know how much the recovery will be or how long the term will be."
He contemplated not coming to the test, but it was at his mother's urging that he finely decided to come.
"She told me, 'You've got a job to do. You go do it,' " Setzer said. "Being here may make it easier on her because she's not there worrying about me having a job to do."
The test in Bobby Hamilton Racing-Virginia's No. 18 Dodge is a new start for Setzer, a winner of 17 truck races during the last decade.
"(Wood Brothers Racing) wanted (Ken) Schrader in the 21 car because they were back in the top 35 in points, and we had looked at Dennis the year before," BHR-V co-owner Lori Hamilton said. "Dennis and (crew chief) Jeff White just clicked and it was just a carryover from what he and Schrader had started."
"We've got some great racers behind this deal," Setzer said. "They're doing everything for BHR-Virginia." "
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