Can Hamilton Repeat?(Motorsports)(Bobby Hamilton)

Byline: Al Pearce

Bobby Hamilton hopes to make history in this, his third full season in NASCAR's Craftsman Truck Series. Never in the Craftsman Series' 10 years has a champion successfully defended his title. Hamilton, a 47-year-old Tennessee native with a long and impressive stock car resume, won four races last year, had a series-leading 12 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes, and beat two-race winner Dennis Setzer by 46 points.

Ted Musgrave (two wins), Carl Edwards (two) and winless Matt Crafton rounded out the top-five, with Setzer (two), Jack Sprague (one), defending champion Travis Kvapil (two), winless Steve Park and Chad Chaffin (two) sixth through 10th in points.

Hamilton, who owns his Dodge-based team, was ninth in points early in the season. Setzer led from round four at Mansfield, Ohio, in mid-May until round 14 in August at Clermont, Indiana, where Hamilton took the lead by five points. He stayed there for the next eight races, finally losing the lead by one point to Setzer after round 22 at Martinsville in October. Hamilton regained the lead for good (by seven points) a week later at Phoenix, then wrapped up his first title with a 16th-place finish in the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

He faces plenty of competition this year, the first time four former Craftsman champions have faced each other for the full 25-race schedule. Setzer ...