HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) -- Bobby Hamilton passed Mike Skinner in the final turn, then held on when they bumped coming to the finish line Saturday to win the inaugural EasyCare 200 for the NASCAR truck series at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Skinner ended up sliding sideways across the line, but still finished second in front of rookie David Reutimann. Defending series champ Travis Kvapil was fourth, followed by Matt Crafton.

Hamilton, a former Nextel Cup driver, rallied from a lap down to get his fifth career victory in the series and the 50th for Dodge.

"I thought I had either sucked the air off his spoiler, or if I cut him off, he would have come punch me in the nose," Hamilton quipped. "When he hit me, he turned me left, and I just stayed left. I'd rather go through the grass with him and take a chance on seeing who gets to the line first."

A caution for a crash on the frontstretch by Steve Park and Robert Huffman brought out the caution with two laps left, and since races in the series can't end under yellow, that left a two-lap, green-white-checkered dash to the finish.

Skinner, a former series champion, led when the green fell, but Hamilton slowly closed in until making his move in Turn 4 of the final lap. He moved to the outside of Skinner's Toyota and pulled alongside, and as the trucks sped toward the checkered flag, they bounced off each other.

That led to the spin by Skinner, who slid harmlessly through the grass before regaining control.

"I tried to get our wheels together, so maybe I'd nudge ahead a little bit," Skinner said. "I guess it just didn't work out."

A frightening three-truck wreck on lap 46 forced the race to be stopped for about five minutes and sent the three drivers to the hospital for observation. Tina Gordon, one of two women in the race, spun off Turn 2 and slid into the path of Rick Crawford and Hank Parker Jr. on the backstretch.

Both hit her, and the impact appeared to leave the throttle stuck on Crawford's Ford. He continued on and slammed into the outside wall in Turn 3, and the truck eventually came to rest in the infield grass near the finish line.

Parker ricocheted off Gordon and hit the inside wall. All three drivers got out of their trucks with some assistance, and were awake and alert before they were taken to the hospital.

NASCAR.com

redriderbob

 

Official Results:

1 12 #4 Bobby Hamilton Dodge Square D 185/5 133 Running
2 4 #42 Mike Skinner Toyota Toyota Tundra 180/10 133 Running
3 1 #17 David Reutimann * Toyota NTN Bearings 170/5 133 Running
4 9 #24 Travis Kvapil Toyota Line-X Bedliners 160/0 133 Running
5 6 #6 Matt Crafton Chevrolet GM Goodwrench 155/0 133 Running
6 11 #15 Shane Hmiel Chevrolet Earl Small Harley-Davidson 150/0 133 Running
7 3 #99 Carl Edwards Ford Superchips 146/0 133 Running
8 21 #1 Ted Musgrave Dodge Mopar 142/0 133 Running
9 14 #18 Chad Chaffin Dodge Dickies 138/0 133 Running
10 10 #52 Ken Schrader Chevrolet Federated Auto Parts 134/0 133 Running
11 8 #46 Dennis Setzer Chevrolet Chevrolet Silverado 130/0 133 Running
12 27 #62 Steve Park Dodge Orleans Racing 127/0 133 Running
13 30 #07 Shane Sieg * Chevrolet Auto Air Colors 124/0 133 Running
14 29 #59 Randy LaJoie Dodge Melling Eng. Parts/Harris Trucking 121/0 132 Running
15 5 #22 Bill Lester Toyota LidRock 118/0 132 Running
16 22 #88 Tracy Hines * Chevrolet Menards 115/0 132 Running
17 31 #08 Tony Raines Chevrolet 1-800-4-A-Phone 112/0 132 Running
18 20 #10 Terry Cook Ford Power Stroke Diesel 109/0 131 Running
19 23 #2 Andy Houston Dodge ASE/CARQUEST 106/0 131 Running
20 17 #138 Brandon Whitt * Ford Cure Autism Now/McMillin Homes 103/0 131 Running
21 24 #03 Geoffrey Bodine Chevrolet Team EJP 100/0 131 Running
22 35 #67 Steadman Marlin * Ford Forced Ignition/Fiddleback Racing 97/0 130 Running
23 28 #8 Chase Montgomery * Dodge Big Daddy's Cycle World 94/0 129 Running
24 19 #16 Jack Sprague Chevrolet Chevy Trucks 91/0 129 Running
25 26 #23 Shelby Howard * Toyota Bill Davis Racing 88/0 129 Running
26 33 #72 Jerry Hill Chevrolet MacDonald Motorsports 85/0 129 Running
27 15 #50 Jon Wood Ford Roush Racing 82/0 128 Running
28 34 #93 Wayne Edwards Ford truckmoxie.com/Amerisuites 79/0 128 Running
29 2 #12 Robert Huffman * Toyota Toyota Tundra 76/0 126 Running
30 18 #29 Frank Kimmel Ford K Automotive 73/0 122 Running
31 32 #40 Joey Clanton * Chevrolet Optech 70/0 84 Out of Race
32 36 #102 Kelly Sutton * Chevrolet Team Copaxone 67/0 56 Out of Race
33 7 #21 Hank Parker, Jr Toyota SportClips 64/0 43 Out of Race
34 13 #14 Rick Crawford Ford Circle Bar Motel/RV Park 61/0 43 Out of Race
35 25 #13 Tina Gordon Chevrolet Vassarette/Microtel 58/0 41 Out of Race
36 16 #75 David Starr Chevrolet Spears Manufacturing 55/0 12 Out of Race

redriderbob

 

Official Points:

1 -- Carl Edwards 336 Leader 2 1 1 2
2 -- Travis Kvapil 335 -1 2 0 2 2
3 +7 Bobby Hamilton 320 -16 2 1 1 1
4 +5 David Reutimann* 313 -23 2 0 1 2
5 +1 Dennis Setzer 285 -51 2 0 0 1
6 +8 Shane Hmiel 271 -65 2 0 0 1
7 -2 Terry Cook 269 -67 2 0 1 1
8 +18 Mike Skinner 264 -72 2 0 1 1
9 +4 Chad Chaffin 262 -74 2 0 0 1
10 +8 Matt Crafton 261 -75 2 0 1 1
11 -- Geoffrey Bodine 234 -102 2 0 0 1
12 +3 Bill Lester 233 -103 2 0 0 0
13 +11 Ted Musgrave 232 -104 2 0 0 1
14 -6 Jon Wood 228 -108 2 0 0 1
15 -11 Rick Crawford 221 -115 2 0 1 1
16 -9 Frank Kimmel 220 -116 2 0 0 1
17 +5 Shane Sieg* 218 -118 2 0 0 0
18 +1 Tracy Hines* 218 -118 2 0 0 0
19 +8 Steve Park 209 -127 2 0 0 0
20 -4 Steadman Marlin* 209 -127 2 0 0 0
21 -- Brandon Whitt* 200 -136 2 0 0 0
22 -10 David Starr 182 -154 2 0 0 0
23 +10 Randy LaJoie 182 -154 2 0 0 0
24 +5 Andy Houston 179 -157 2 0 0 0
25 -- Jack Sprague 179 -157 2 0 0 0
26 -9 Hank Parker, Jr 173 -163 2 0 0 0
27 -24 Mike Wallace 170 -166 1 0 1 1
28 +2 Chase Montgomery* 164 -172 2 0 0 0
29 -1 Shelby Howard* 164 -172 2 0 0 0
30 -7 Tina Gordon 149 -187 2 0 0 0
31 -- Joey Clanton* 137 -199 2 0 0 0
32 -- Ken Schrader 134 -202 1 0 0 1
33 +2 Robert Huffman* 131 -205 2 0 0 0
34 -- Tony Raines 112 -224 1 0 0 0
35 -15 Randy MacDonald 100 -236 1 0 0 0
36 -- Jerry Hill 85 -251 1 0 0 0
37 -1 Wayne Edwards 79 -257 2 0 0 0
38 -- Kelly Sutton* 67 -269 1 0 0 0
39 -7 Joe Aramendia* 64 -272 1 0 0 0
40 -6 Ken Weaver* 58 -278 1 0 0 0

* Denotes Rookie

redriderbob

 

redriderbob

 

redriderbob

 

I have issues with Bobby Hamilton... and Square D, but... DAMN AWESOME RACE though... finishes like that are most exciting... LOVED IT!

~Amanda

 

I have no idea about your issues... but Bobby is awesome in my opinion... it was one of the best finishes I have ever seen!

redriderbob

 

Thank the Lord Toyota did not win

 

I think Bobby should paint a little Jap flag on the door of his Dodge to mark his "Kill".
Heres to another manufacturers championship for Dodge this year!