Aaron's 312 - Bobby Hamilton, Jr. Notes

Bobby Hamilton, Jr.
Race Preview
Aaron's 312
Talladega Superspeedway

TEAM MARINES RACING NOTES & QUOTES:
·Hamilton, Jr.'s best Busch Series finish at Talladega Superspeedway was 4th in 2000.
·Out of 12 Winston Cup starts, Hamilton, Jr.'s career-best WC finish (14th) came in the fall of 2001 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Bobby Hamilton, Jr. on Talladega:
Talladega is a lot like Daytona in that how you finish is based a lot on luck. If you can avoid the big one, you may be all right. Last year one accident took out over twenty cars. We were involved, ended up running just 53 out of 117 laps, and we still finished 22nd. That should speak for itself. It's a place you have to be patient and you have to see everything that is going on around you. As with all of the restrictor plate races you need to find some good drafting partners because if you get stranded out there on your own you'll lose the draft and fall way behind. It is different from Daytona though in that you can move around a lot. You don't have to stay in the same groove and you can have some control on how your car handles. If you're tight in one groove, you can move to another and find where the car works the best for you."

Fred Wanke on Talladega:
"At Talladega, horsepower and aerodynamics are key. This track is all about raw speed and you either have it or you don't. You want to qualify up front and stay up front. Our job is to help the driver do that with good pit stops, good fuel management, etc. If the driver gets in a position where he has to fight his way to the front, you risk him getting caught up in "the big one.

We finished sixth in Daytona which was a great run for us considering how unlucky we were last season in the restrictor plate races. I'd like to see that momentum carry over this weekend. We lost some ground in the points after last weekend, but the next few races on the schedule are places we are pretty strong at, so given a little bit of luck the Team Marines will be right back in the top-ten in no time."

Testing & Equipment: The No. 25 Team Marines will compete with chassis No. 21 this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. This is the same chassis that Hamilton, Jr. drove to a sixth place finish in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway.

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