Short Runs at Darlington Hold Hamilton Back

The McDonald’s Ford Fusion was lightening fast on long runs during the Diamond Hill Plywood 200 NASCAR Busch Series race Friday night.  The only problem for the team came in the form of 10 cautions during the 147 lap race, leading to very few long runs.  On the short runs, Hamilton’s car struggled to run as well.   The caution filled race dropped Hamilton to a 20th place finish.  Hamilton stands in 7th place in the NASCAR Busch Series Point’s Championship, surrounded by Nextel Cup drivers.

After qualifying in the 25th position, Hamilton gained spots early in the race.  An early lace long run, allowed Hamilton to show the strength of his McDonald’s Ford. On the worn out racing surface of Darlington Raceway, tires seem to last about five laps, then the driver goes into survival mode on the slick racing course.

As cautions began to rain across the speedway, Hamilton bounced back and forth from 12th-22nd place.  Hoping for a final long run to end the race, it never came and Hamilton dropped two positions on the final short sprint to the checkered flag.

“The race didn’t go the way we needed it to, but that’s not something we can control,” Hamilton said.  ““We were a top 12 car on the long run, but tonight we couldn’t get long runs.  We will move forward to our Charlotte test and then the Charlotte race.  We are plugging along, hanging tough with the Cup guys each week.  We will get our team back like it was before and beat those guys soon.”

Denny Hamlin captured the checkered flag on Saturday Night.

After a two day test at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, the Busch Series will take a weekend off before returning to the track the following weekend.