HAMLIN UPBEAT DESPITE DOWN YEAR

Source: Kevin Hamlin Media Relations
Date: 07/07/2003

SNOHOMISH, Wash. - Defending NASCAR Northwest Series Champion Kevin Hamlin's run at Wenatchee Valley Super Oval on Saturday, July 5 ended with a small ball of fire.

"We had a problem with the fuel filter, and it caught fire about 40 laps in." Hamlin said. "We were running third when I got a call over the radio that we had a fire around the right rear tire. About that time NASCAR posted us because of it and we had to pit."

The Bowman's Electro Painting/Corridor Electric Chevrolet was in and out of the pits for the next few laps trying to fix the problem. The team lost a total of 15 laps while on pit road.

"It can only get better from here, because it can't get any worse!" The 24-year-old Snohomish, Wash. native joked. "The last two years have been so gravy, that this season is really hard to swallow at this point.

"The weekend got off to a bad start when I got a call Saturday morning that one of my crew members, Andrew Ferkingstad, was run over by a Jeep the night before. He was ok, but hurting. That's a tough way to leave the house for the track."

Once again, qualifying was tight as Hamlin was fourth with a time of 13.088 sec. The Bud Pole Award went to Bill Lawrence at 13.044 around the quarter-mile oval.

"We had a good starting spot, so we were optimistic about the race," Hamlin said. "It was follow-the-leader in the front of the pack as it's been all year. With as close as the competition is, and with the tires we have to run, it's really hard to pass. I think it was better racing in '01 and '02 with the Goodyear's as we could actually race."

The team heads back to their home track of Evergreen Speedway on June 12th for another Fox Sports televised event.

See Also .:

• Kevin Hamlin Driver Card
• Wenatchee Valley Super Oval Track Page

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