At 47, Hamilton becomes a first-time champ
Kahne wins finale, is now 2-for-2 in Truck Series
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) -- It was a big day for Dodge at Homestead-Miami Speedway, with Bobby Hamilton wrapping up the NASCAR truck series championship Friday and Kasey Kahne driving to his second straight victory.
"This is huge," Hamilton said as he celebrated with his crew and family. "I really wanted to win it for Dodge because they've done so much for us."
At 47, owner-driver Hamilton became the oldest champion of the Craftsman series and gave Dodge its first NASCAR title since Richard Petty won the stock car championship in 1975.
Kahne, the top rookie in the Nextel Cup series, became the first driver to win his first two starts in the truck series, adding this victory in a Jim Smith-owned Ram to the one last Saturday at Darlington.
"To go two-for-two, that's pretty awesome," Kahne said after leading a race-high 54 of 134 laps and beating Ultra Motorsports teammate Ted Musgrave to the finish line by 1.016-seconds -- about five car-lengths.
"It's really surprising," added Kahne, who has five runner-up finishes in the Cup series. "It's tough to win these races. We've been trying all year and come up short (in Cup)."
He said his truck was strong throughout the race, although he didn't take his first lead until lap 79.
"We had to make one little change there at the beginning," the 24-year-old winner said. "Then we beat the No. 1 (Musgrave) out of the pits and that was the key. We both had real strong trucks."
Kahne's only victory in NASCAR's Busch Series came here last November.
Kasey Kahne is two for two in Truck Series competition
2004 champ
Bobby Hamilton captures the 2004 Craftsman Truck Series title
Runner up
Dennis Setzer finishes second in the season standings
Hamilton came into the season-ending race knowing he needed to finish 14th or better to wrap up the title even if runner-up Dennis Setzer won.
Setzer, finishing second in the points for the second straight year, wound up 10th in the race.
The champion wound up 16th and won the title by 46 points. Musgrave finished third in the standings, 70 points behind.
Hamilton said he was hearing all kinds of strange noises in his truck as the race went on.
"I finally just decided not to listen to that anymore and just keep an eye on Dennis and stay focused on winning this championship," he said. "Man, it was tough. I can't imagine what those guys are going to go through Sunday."
Hamilton was alluding to the five contenders for the Nextel Cup title, separated by just 82 points going into Sunday's season-ending Ford 400 on the 1.5-mile oval.
The race, slowed by nine cautions for a total of 32 laps, started about 30 minutes late because of the length of Cup qualifying and ended as darkness settled in over the unlit track.
Copyright 2004 The Associated Press.
Kahne wins finale, is now 2-for-2 in Truck Series
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) -- It was a big day for Dodge at Homestead-Miami Speedway, with Bobby Hamilton wrapping up the NASCAR truck series championship Friday and Kasey Kahne driving to his second straight victory.
"This is huge," Hamilton said as he celebrated with his crew and family. "I really wanted to win it for Dodge because they've done so much for us."
At 47, owner-driver Hamilton became the oldest champion of the Craftsman series and gave Dodge its first NASCAR title since Richard Petty won the stock car championship in 1975.
Kahne, the top rookie in the Nextel Cup series, became the first driver to win his first two starts in the truck series, adding this victory in a Jim Smith-owned Ram to the one last Saturday at Darlington.
"To go two-for-two, that's pretty awesome," Kahne said after leading a race-high 54 of 134 laps and beating Ultra Motorsports teammate Ted Musgrave to the finish line by 1.016-seconds -- about five car-lengths.
"It's really surprising," added Kahne, who has five runner-up finishes in the Cup series. "It's tough to win these races. We've been trying all year and come up short (in Cup)."
He said his truck was strong throughout the race, although he didn't take his first lead until lap 79.
"We had to make one little change there at the beginning," the 24-year-old winner said. "Then we beat the No. 1 (Musgrave) out of the pits and that was the key. We both had real strong trucks."
Kahne's only victory in NASCAR's Busch Series came here last November.
Kasey Kahne is two for two in Truck Series competition
2004 champ
Bobby Hamilton captures the 2004 Craftsman Truck Series title
Runner up
Dennis Setzer finishes second in the season standings
Hamilton came into the season-ending race knowing he needed to finish 14th or better to wrap up the title even if runner-up Dennis Setzer won.
Setzer, finishing second in the points for the second straight year, wound up 10th in the race.
The champion wound up 16th and won the title by 46 points. Musgrave finished third in the standings, 70 points behind.
Hamilton said he was hearing all kinds of strange noises in his truck as the race went on.
"I finally just decided not to listen to that anymore and just keep an eye on Dennis and stay focused on winning this championship," he said. "Man, it was tough. I can't imagine what those guys are going to go through Sunday."
Hamilton was alluding to the five contenders for the Nextel Cup title, separated by just 82 points going into Sunday's season-ending Ford 400 on the 1.5-mile oval.
The race, slowed by nine cautions for a total of 32 laps, started about 30 minutes late because of the length of Cup qualifying and ended as darkness settled in over the unlit track.
Copyright 2004 The Associated Press.
