MARTINSVILLE, Va. --On Lap 128, Kyle Busch ran into the back of Brent Raymer who spun in front of Busch, forcing him to slam on the binders and come to a halt. After the caution flew, Busch, Ron Hornaday and a number of other drivers came down pit road for gas and tires. That handed the lead to Dennis Setzer, ahead of Ron Hornaday, Brendan Gaughn, Johnny Benson, Mike Skinner and David Starr. Setzer then held on through numerous restarts and survived a green-white-checker finish to to win the Kroger 250 Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway and put his Duck Head Footwear/Aquadock Dodge Ram into victory lane. The victory was the first for Dodge (and Bobby Hamilton Racing) since the late Hamilton won at Mansfield in 2005, and the truck Setzer won in is co-owned by Hamilton's widow, Lori.
"The emotions are running high right now," Lori Hamilton said. "We always said after Bobby passed away that if we could build it, then we'd do it in honor of him."
Setzer prevailed in a single-file restart. For him, winning at a track where he and Bobby Hamilton dueled also was special.
"I ran second to Bobby the year he won the championship," Setzer said. "We fought like heck all year as far as racing goes, but we were probably as good of friends off the track. We never had a harsh word with each other any time during the year."
The race, run on a cold, overcast day after the teams practiced in heat and sunshine Friday, was dominated by 15 cautions that slowed the pace for 82 laps, and caused the race to go three extra laps for a two-lap sprint to the checkered flag. It was Setzer's 18th career victory in the series and third at Martinsville.
Ten years ago this weekend Bobby Hamilton won The Winston Cup event at Martinsville in the Morgan McClure Motorsports Kodak sponsored Chevrolet. Perhaps Setzer's win today was written in the stars.
Text by The Associated Press, Tom Jensen of TruckSeries.com, Small Town Girl and 14Falcons
Anytime you can come out of the third race of the season and still be in the top 10 in points it is a good thing. It is a great way to start the season. So many times you hope for a good start to the season and bad luck comes your way and ends that. I am excited about being ninth in points, but I am more excited about making the drive to get inside the top five over the coming weeks.
I know the average person cannot see how much our team as grown since Daytona, but we have come a long way in a short time. The guys have put in a lot of long hours to make our trucks run more competitively and I think that is just beginning to show. Our team is only going to get better as the races go on.
Thanks to Dodge we are spending a substantial amount of time in the wind tunnel and at the eight post shaker rig. The Martinsville test went really well, but we still spent time in the tunnel and at the eight post after the test to make ourselves better. On top of that we tested at the Monster Mile to get some more track time before this weekend. If we can stay out of trouble at Martinsville I think we will be on our way to a solid spot in the top 10 in points.
As I suspected might happen, BHR partner Arrington Manufacturing part owner Stacy Compton will be driving the number 4 truck for the Craftsman Truck Series Race Team this season. As had previously been reported during SPEED race coverage last season, Dennis Setzer will continue driving the number 18 for the team.
"Stacy Compton will drive the #4 Bobby Hamilton Racing Dodge in the Craftsman Truck Series this season, team spokesman Amanda Jones confirmed Thursday. Compton, a co-owner of BHR partner Arrington Manufacturing, and Dennis Setzer will drive for the organization in 2008.
During an interview by Dave Moody on Sirius Radio, Compton said that Dodge will be heavily involved with the team and sponsorship will be provided by Dodge Dealers on the #4 Dodge."
Compton is practicing both trucks today in Daytona. There has been no word to date on who will sponsor the #18 truck. Fastenal will not be back with BHR in 2008 and has announced they will sponsor the #40 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates entry in the Sprint Cup series and driver Dario Franchitti.
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