Hamilton targeting Charlotte return.

Injured Winston Cup driver Bobby Hamilton is doing his best to get back behind the wheel of his No. 55 Chevrolet after suffering shoulder and wrist injuries in a Craftsman Truck Series crash at Richmond earlier this month.

With a broken left shoulder blade and a broken left wrist, Hamilton's season had been in jeopardy but after attending several hours of therapy every day and using methods of recovery normally saved for stars of the NFL and NHL, the driver of the Schneider Electric Chevy has been cleared to return to action at Lowe's Motor Speedway on October 13th.

While the injury couldn't have come at a worse time for Hamilton, who is looking for a full-time drive for 2003, the technology being used on the former Petty Enterprises driver has definitely shortened his recovery time. Not only is he going to several hours of therapy every day, but he is also working with doctors to make two different devices that will protect his shoulder and wrist from future injuries.

Meanwhile the #55 Andy Petree Racing team is gearing up for this weekend's Protection One 400 at Kansas Speedway by testing with interim driver Greg Biffle. At the same time, Hamilton is waiting on the rain to stop in Nashville, Tenn., so he can make some laps in one of his trucks to test the new shoulder and wrist devices.

"Right now I am projecting the Charlotte race," said Hamilton who has already missed three races and is set to miss two more before Charlotte. "We can't take the chance to re-injure my shoulder. It's healing fine and is actually at 100 percent, but we take the chance that it's not strong enough to withhold pressure in a wreck. It's not worth taking the chance to ruin my career just for one race.

"But you never know, I might get up on Wednesday morning before Talladega with the crazy notion that I want to race that weekend.

"The team is getting things ready for someone else to fill in for Talladega. Jimmy (Elledge, crew chief) told me that he would wait and see what the doctors said first before he committed to running Talladega with Greg, or any other driver for that matter.

"We are testing next week at Greenville Pickens (S.C.) and we'll go from there.

"I know I'm ready to get back in that car. Every week I feel better. After every therapy session I know I'm one step closer to racing that car. The first week I was alright watching it on TV from home, but I must have been on some big pain medicine or something, because it's hard to do it now!"

On his new wrist and shoulder protection devices, Hamilton commented: "There are no straps or anything, just a hard protective shield to cover my wrist. It was like a gel that they put on my wrist and then we put it in hot water. It got harder as it sat in the water. It's split at the top, but it takes two hands to pry it open so I can get my wrist out. The shoulder harness is like a shield. It was made by doctors that help hockey and football players recover from injuries. I'm going to use it at the test next week and see how it works."

As if the #55 team didn't have enough to worry about, NASCAR have also fined Elledge $5000 and suspended him for one race after 'unapproved air directional devices' were discovered on Biffle's car during practice last weekend at Dover. Team owner Petree, himself a former winning crew chief, will assume Elledge's position in Kansas.