Historical Motorsports Stories writes:

"The History of Chris Fontaine's Truck, "Freak""

Posted by nascarman on October 12, 2018

Viewed 7479 times Tweet Chris Fontaine always gets a lot of attention when he runs in the Camping World Truck Series. He only shows up for superspeedway races and usually runs near the front. Those strong runs can be traced to the truck Fontaine drives. The VERY OLD truck he drives. Every time Fontaine shows up to the track in his blue and yellow Toyota, he's driving a truck called "Freak."





Fontaine in Freak

(Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)



Freak was originally built as a Dodge by Bobby Hamilton Racing in the early 2000s, exactly which year is unclear. A lot of race teams have names for their chassis; Bobby Hamilton Racing had the best. Hulk, Angel, Goober, Rudolph, Bob Daddy, Demon, Catfish, Chunky, Oscar, King, Rocket, Curley, Trix, Chucky, Timmy, Beavis, Butthead, Slim Shady, Tweeter, Mini Me, Scarface, Duster, Magnum, Rambo, Nitro, Champ, and Freak were all built by BHR.



Freak was a superspeedway truck, and as a result, never raced more than twice a year. The earliest confirmed record of it being used was in February 2001. A great truck from the beginning, Joe Ruttman won Daytona with it. The following year, Freak won again at Daytona, this time driven by Robert Pressley.





Pressley in Freak, 2002

(Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)



With Bobby Hamilton driving Freak, the chassis won for the third time at Daytona in 2005. After Hamilton's passing in December 2006, Ken Schrader drove Freak at Daytona in 2007 and crashed on lap 23. Repaired for Talladega later that year, Dennis Setzer drove it to a 5th place finish. In 2008, Stacy Compton finished 6th at Daytona with Freak, the final time BHR raced it.





Hamilton and Freak in Victory Lane, 2005

(Photo by Harold Hinson/Sporting News via Getty Images)



When Bobby Hamilton Racing closed at the end of 2008, Freak and many other Hamilton Trucks were sold to James Harris. Now with a Toyota body on it, Freak finished 3rd at Daytona in 2009 and 4th at Talladega, both times with Terry Cook behind the wheel. Once Harris' team closed after 2009, Freak was sold to Chris Fontaine. With Fontaine driving the acclaimed truck, he has three top-10 finishes and led 18 laps since 2010.



At over 17 years old, Freak is nearly as old as some of the drivers competing against it. Todd Gilliland was only nine months old when it won at Daytona for the first time. That's a pretty amazing lifespan for a Truck that races at Daytona and Talladega.



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