Bobby Hamilton Jr. hung out in the back for 90 laps then during the last 10 he raced from 24th to 12th in a textbook display of how to avoid the cluster and finish well at Daytona. Team Rensi Motorsports described it this way in their press release.
Following a 12 hour, overnight rain delay, Bobby Hamilton, Jr. raced his way to a strong 12th place finish in the Winn-Dixie 250 at Daytona International Speedway. The pilot of the No. 35 McDonald’s NASCAR Busch Series Ford Fusion, passed six cars in the final two laps to record the impressive finish. After qualifying in the 28th position, Hamilton knew the race would be full of close calls at 200mph, spinning cars and other challenges. The plan of action was to stay in contention until the end and then charge for the front. The plan came together and Hamilton snuck away from Daytona in seventh place in the NASCAR Busch Series points standings.
“We did a good job in Daytona as far as coming away with a good finish,” Hamilton said. “We are moving in the right direction as far as the point’s race. Next week in Chicago will be important; it’s a place we have won at before.”
Bobby Jr. has 416 more points than the 25 car, but if you toss out Richard Johns' four starts in the 25 and Kenny Wallace's one start in the 25, that leaves 14 races that David Gilliland has driven, and head-to-head they are tied at 7-7 for who finishes first.
That said, photo he would like to see Bobby Jr. "win a few"...how about just finishing in the top-5 for starters? His best finish is ninth this year.
If I'm Bobby Jr. and I can do what I want next year, I try to do a deal like Scott Wimmer has with RCR where he doesn't drive EVERY race he drives plenty and his car is always competitive, rather than trying a stand-alone Busch team again.
That was kind of my point, which you missed. Again.
I didn't say Bobby should run Cup next year, he should just run for Busch for a team with better stuff (which pretty much means a Cup-affiliated team no matter what), even if he has to run part-time. I think Wimmer's running around 20 races, but he has a chance to win because he is in a top-10 car when he DOES drive. If I was Bobby Jr. I'd try to hook up that kind of deal for myself.
EDIT: My point was that he is MILES from winning. Not necessarily his fault, but he couldn't even crack the top-10 when there were NO Cup drivers around.
EDIT2: His season has been VERY similar to Robby Gordon's in Cup. Doesn't it sound silly to say it would be great if Robby "won a few" right now? It mostly just cracked me up to see "a few".
Last edited by JayJayDean on July 10th at 7:12 PM.
Hey photo, don't get me wrong...if Bobby Jr. could win some races this year it would be GREAT, but it just struck me funny to think about since he hasn't even come close to winning this year.
Yes, there have been at least a few Cup guy in every race, but at Nashville there were only four that finished ahead of Bobby, wherer he ended up 13th, he wrecked at Kentucky to finish 36th, and there were only three Cup guys (all BSRs, btw) who finished ahead of him at Milwaukee, where he was also 13th.
I'm not saying he's having a TERRIBLE season or anything. The car is 12th in owners points, mainly because Bobby rarely finishes 30th or worse, and that's still pretty good, but he's 7th in driver points in a series with only 11 full-time drivers (although if you take Harvick out he is acutally 6th out of 11). This is a case where being 7th in ponts sounds more impressive than it actually is.
He certainly has not capitalized on opportunities where there were fewer Cup guys which has been disappointing to say the least. However, he is still very much in the hunt and there is no shuffling the standings for a chase in the Busch series so he still has plenty of time to climb up towards the top of the chart.
"But all this must be suffered by those who profess the stern order of chivalry" Most Interesting Blog, June 16, 2008 and six other occasions. Lisa awarded him Best "breaking news" blogger March 31, 2008. Blog of The Day, Christmas Day, 2007. edhardiman wrote, "Falco's tribute to Rocket Richard reminds us all the stars of today stand on the shoulders of giants..." October 23, 2007. Three Golden Swirrly p00p Awards (Hockey, NASCAR and Use of Graphics), FlyingPig, July 18, 2007. 2007 Memorial Day Weekend Trifecta sponsored by williamwilman . Featured on WFORacingFans April, 2007. "Stylin'" award, Dusty, February 07. "One of ten new bloggers to watch" Dudski, January 2007.
