Bobby Hamilton, Jr.

Infobox_NASCAR_driver
Name = Charles Robert Hamilton, Jr.


Birthdate = birth date and age|1978|1|8 | Birthplace = Nashville, Tennessee
Previous_Year = 2005
Prev_Cup_Pos = 36th | Best_Cup_Pos = 36th - 2005 (NEXTEL Cup)
First_Cup_Race = 2000 Pennzoil 400 Presented by Discount Auto Parts (Homestead)
Last_Cup_Race = 2005 Ford 400 (Homestead)
Busch_Car_Team = #25 - Team Rensi Motorsports
First_Busch_Race = 1998 AC Delco 200 (Rockingham)
First_Busch_Win = 2002 Busch 200 (Loudon)
Last_Busch_Win = 2003 Bashas' Supermarkets 200 (Phoenix)
Busch_Wins = 5
Busch_Top_Tens = 58
Busch_Poles = 4
First_Truck_Race = 2001 GNC Live Well 200 (Milwaukee)
Last_Truck_Race = 2006 Ford 200 (Homestead)
Truck_Top_Tens = 9
Truck_Poles = 2
Updated_On = January 28, 2007

Charles Robert Hamilton, Jr. (born January 8, 1978 in Nashville, Tennessee) is a NASCAR driver. He is currently the driver of the #25 Nationwide Series Smithfield Foods Ford for Team Rensi Motorsports and is the co-owner of Sadler Hamilton Racing. He currently resides in White House, Tennessee, with his wife Stephanie and a daughter.

Early life

When he was 15 years old, he found a Ford Pinto in his driveway as a gift from his late father (2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion Bobby Hamilton). They fixed up the car, and Hamilton began racing it on weekends at the local speedway. In 1998, he moved to the ARCA series where he earned four top-5 finishes in five races.

Nationwide Series career

In 1998, Hamilton Jr. began to run some races for the Sadler Bros. Racing #95 team. He made his debut at Rockingham in October, where he started in 27th position. He led four laps and finished 37th, three laps off the lead. He also made the race at Atlanta, had a 19th place start and 20th place finish.

Hamilton and the #95 team entered 1999 with a part-time schedule. In four races with the team, his best finish was 27th at Rockingham and Darlington. His best start was sixth at Daytona.

He didn't race again until the Hensley Motorsports #63 team had an opening. He ran six of the next seven races, beginning at Watkins Glen. In that seat, he set his best career finish of 21st at Pikes Peak.

Hamilton Jr. then moved over to the #22 Air Jamaica Team owned by Carroll Racing. He qualified for all the races he attempted, and matched his career best start of 6th at Charlotte. At Homestead-Miami Hamilton Jr. started 15th and finished 9th.

Hamilton Jr. got a full-time ride with Carroll in 2000, driving the newly formed #26 Chevy, with sponsorship from Baywatch. Hamilton Jr. had three top-10s in 2000, with a fourth at Talladega, and a pair of sevenths at Charlotte and Memphis. Hamilton Jr. also won his first career pole in the season finale at Homestead-Miami. He finished 19th in points.

Hamilton Jr. had a pair of 5th at Darlington and Rockingham in 2001. He also added three other top-10s. He won another pole at Fontana and started in the top-10 for half the races. After finishing 17th in points, he left the team.

In 2002, Hamilton Jr. moved to the #25 Team Rensi Motorsports Ford Taurus. After leading 159 laps at Richmond, Hamilton Jr. fell out of the race with engine problems, but came back to win the next race at Loudon where he led 83 laps. Overall, Hamilton Jr. had 6 top-5s and 15 top-10s. This led to an 8th place finish in points, his first career top-10 placement.

Hamilton returned to Rensi in 2003. He won at Kentucky, Chicagoland, Memphis and Phoenix. He had 13 top-5 finishes and 22 top-10s, plus a pole at Pikes Peak. He also led 623 laps. In the end, Hamilton Jr. entered the champsionship fight late, with 9 top-7 finishes in the last ten races, and finished 4th in the championship fight, 49 points behind champion Brian Vickers.

Hamilton Jr. entered 2004 as a favorite to win the championship. He had 7 top-5s and 12 top-10s, but the team did not win a race. After racing at Michigan with a 29th, Hamilton Jr. was released after he announced he was going to the NEXTEL Cup Series with PPI Motorsports. He was running fourth in points at the time. He has not raced in the series since.

Hamilton Jr. returned to Team Rensi Motorsports in 2007 to drive the #35 McDonalds Ford Fusion vacated by Regan Smith. He finished 6th in the driver's standings with 3 top-10s and no wins. In 2008, he's driving the #25 Smithfield Foods Ford Fusion for Team Rensi Motorsports. Rotating sponsors are Smithfield Foods and subsidiaries Eckrich and Curly's BBQ.

Winston/NEXTEL/Sprint Cup Series career

Hamilton Jr. made his Cup debut driving his father's #57 Chevy at Homestead-Miami in 2000. He completed all but 6 laps, started 30th and finished 33rd. The very next week, Hamilton Jr. was back in a Winston Cup car, driving the #01 Coors Light Chevy for Felix Sabates. He had a 28th place start and 31st place finish.

Hamilton Jr. made ten races in 2001. Three of them were for Andy Petree Racing. He subbed for the injured Joe Nemechek and brought home a best finish of 24th at Michigan. The other seven were for Morgan-McClure Motorsports, in the #4 Kodak Chevy. He had runs of 14th at Talladega, 15th at Atlanta and 17th at Rockingham.

Hamilton Jr. returned in 2003 for two races. This time he was driving for Team Rensi (his Busch Series Team) in their #35 Team Marines Ford. He had his best career weekend at Kansas, where he started 18th and finished 14th. He was also having a better run at Atlanta, but tire problems relegated him to 27th. The team was considering running full-time in 2005, but it did not pan out.

Hamilton Jr. made 17 races in 2004, most with PPI. He replaced Ricky Craven starting at Fontana, and ran the rest of the races for the #32 Tide Chevy (save New Hampshire). His best career finish to the date occurred at Richmond, where he finished 11th. He also tacked on top-20s at Phoenix and Atlanta. In addition, James Finch allowed Hamilton Jr. to drive the #09 Dodge for a handful of races. Bobby Jr. had a run of 17th at Richmond with the team and a 19th at New Hampshire.

Hamilton Jr. returned to PPI in 2005, along with his former Rensi crew chief Harold Holly. Unfortunately, Hamilton Jr. did not qualify for four races (he bought another ride at Talladega) and did not get a single top-10 finish. He did match his career best of 11th, though, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He also started on the outside pole at the next race in Atlanta. Hamilton Jr. was released from the team at the end of the season.

Hamilton Jr. has not raced in the series since.

Craftsman Truck Series career

Hamilton Jr. made his debut driving his father's #4 DANA Dodge at the Milwaukee Mile in 2001. He started 33rd and finished in that position after a transmission broke.

In 2002, Hamilton Jr. made another start in the #4 Dodge, this time at Nashville. After starting 7th, Hamilton Jr. led three laps and came home with a 4th place finish.

Hamilton Jr. made three starts in 2004. When he went back to Nashville, driving the Bobby Hamilton Racing #04 Dodge. There he set the record speed in route to his first career pole. He led 89 laps in the event before finishing 4th. He also ran two races for the #59 HT Motorsports Dodge team. He finished 9th at Martinsville Speedway and was 2nd at Darlington before a faulty late restart led Hamilton Jr. into the wall and a 27th place finish.

After losing his ride in the Cup Series, Hamilton Jr. went back to the Truck Series in 2006. He ran the first three races with the Green Light Racing #08 team, the best being a 7th at Daytona. Then, after his father, Bobby Hamilton stepped down from his ride (the #18 Fastenal Dodge) with cancer, Hamilton Jr. took over. In his very first outing with the team, Hamilton Jr. won the pole and finished 10th. However, the rest of the year was a struggle for the emotionally-distracted #18 team, as Hamilton recorded just five top-ten finishes with the team. Hamilton, Jr. would finish 16th in the points before leaving the team for Team Rensi Motorsports

Following the death of his father on January 7, 2007, Hamilton Jr. was expected to take over ownership of the team, however the financial backers of Bobby Hamilton Racing decided that Bobby Jr. was not the appropriate person to be named majority owner [ [http://www.bobbyhamiltonracing.com/cgi-script/kmgArticles/articles/000009/000974.htm Bobby Hamilton Racing Official Team Website - NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series ] ] .

Other ventures

Hamilton replaced his father in 2006 as co-host of "The Driver's Zone" on WGFX 104.5 The Zone in Nashville with Liz Hackett, the remarried widow of Davey Allison, who uses her first husband's surname on the radio show.

Hamilton and wife Stephanie own the Courthouse Cafe in Springfield, TN..

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.bobbyhamiltonjr.com Official Website for Bobby Hamilton Jr.]
* [http://www.racing-reference.info/driver?id=hamilbo02 Drivers statistics at racing-reference.info]