Notes: Hamilton's widow runs race team in his honor

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The late Bobby Hamilton, the 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, took pride in the fact his team -- no matter the odds -- never gave up.

The 14 months since his January 2007 death provided challenges that well would have sunk lesser groups.

Lori Hamilton

Driver changes, lost sponsorship and a move from the Nashville area to Martinsville, Va., proved daunting, but ultimately led to redemption.

Dennis Setzer drove the team's No. 18 Dodge to a convincing win this past Saturday in the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway (watch video). Setzer's third Martinsville victory came in the team's 73rd start since Hamilton's last victory at Mansfield Motorsports Park in May 2005 (read more).

"Obviously, the emotions are running high right now.," said Hamilton's widow, Lori. "We all said after Bobby passed away if we couldn't do it with him, then we would do it in honor of him.

"So to win at Martinsville, which is now our new home track in the fashion that Dennis did, is an amazing accomplishment for us and our new-found partners and family."

She added, "This win is about all those race fans, Bobby's friends and the employees that not only stood behind us last year and worked through a lot of hardships, but those who continued to stick behind us this year and our new-found employees doing it for one man -- Bobby Hamilton."

Setzer, who joined the team this past September, said, "Lori brought this team through some really hard times last season and did a tremendous job of holding everyone together. This year, she partnered with another group of smart businessmen and racers to help her and it's working."

Setzer snaps Dodge's long winless streak

Dodge's record-NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series winless streak reached 72 races in early March at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Thanks to Martinsville master Setzer, the drought is over.

Kyle Busch's (No. 51 Toyota) victory at Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 20, 2005 signaled the beginning of the streak for -- ironically -- the previous season's manufacturer champion.

Ford's 27-race non-winning streak between September 2004 and September 2005 stands as the second-longest in Craftsman Truck history. The truck maker's 10-race drought, dating to Talladega this past October, is the series' current longest.

Toyota, which entered the series in 2004, required just 13 races to capture its first win but in October of the same season, ran into a 15-race dry spell that lasted until Todd Bodine's (No. 30 Toyota) July 2 victory at Kansas Speedway.

Chevrolet, winner of six manufacturers' championships, has the fewest consecutive losses between wins -- 12 -- in 2000.

In the Loop: Setzer is back

Dennis Setzer proclaimed "Hello, world!" after his impressive victory at Martinsville Speedway.

Setzer, an 18-time winner in the Craftsman Truck Series, dominated the field Saturday, posting a near-perfect Driver Rating of 143.4 (150.0 is the maximum rating), an Average Running Position of 3.9, 40 Fastest Laps Run and spending all but one Lap in the Top 15. Prior to the win, Setzer's best finish in the first three races this season was a 10th.

Fast facts

Race	O'Reilly Auto Parts 250
Green	6:16 p.m. ET April 26
TV	SPEED, 5:30 p.m. ET
Radio	MRN (Sirius Ch. 28), 6 p.m. ET

• Track | Tickets | Owner Points

2008 owner points

The Kroger 250 was the final race in which the top-30 starting positions were set by 2007 owner points. The next Craftsman Truck race is the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway on April 26.

The victory improved his standing and his statistics among the Craftsman Truck stars.

Setzer catapulted into fourth place in the series standings, up from his previous ninth-place spot. His season Driver Rating is now 86.1, up from 67.0 prior to Martinsville.

The series lead still belongs to Kyle Busch, despite his 26th-place finish at Martinsville. He also holds the series lead in many of the season-to-date Loop Data stats: Average Running Position (5.1), Driver Rating (122.1), Fastest Laps Run (107 -- Busch is the only driver with triple digits in the category) and Laps in the Top 15 (551).

Busch saw a 72-point edge over Todd Bodine cut to 36 after a final turn collision (watch video) with Johnny Benson (No. 23 Toyota). Behind Busch, however, there's a big logjam. The difference between Bodine and fifth-place Rick Crawford (No. 14 Ford) is just 62 points.

Erik Darnell continues to shine in this young season. He scored his best finish of the year this past Saturday with a solid fifth-place run. The finish vaulted Darnell from 13th in the standings to eighth. His Driver Rating is now a sixth-best 91.8 and his Average Running Position of 9.8 ranks fourth in the series.

Formula One veteran likes short-tracking

Once he concluded that fenders can be an offensive weapon, Scott Speed (No. 46 Chevrolet) quickly moved through the Kroger 250 field and finished 10th in his second Craftsman Truck start.

"In the beginning I was getting abused [and] it was hard to get my brain around the fact that I can touch something and not rip the corner of the [truck] off," Speed said. "It took me awhile to realize, 'you know what?' I can get in there on the inside and if I touch them, it is OK -- there is a bit of a cushion."

Speed is scheduled for additional races with Bill Davis Racing (read more).

Wallace matches best female debut in series

Chrissy Wallace guided her No. 03 Toyota to a hard-fought 18th-place finish and in doing so joined Shawna Robinson as the best-finishing female competitors in their first Craftsman Truck start (watch video). Wallace stands alone with the best finish in the series by a female making her NASCAR national debut.

"They put the belief in me that I could get a top-20 finish and that is exactly what we did," said Wallace of Germain Racing, her father and spotter, Mike Wallace and coach Tony Stewart.