I am in shock. I just read this news on CBSsportsline.com and had to stop and share the news with my wife who was shocked like I am. I think we both wanted to cry, for though Bobby does not know us, we knew him.

I was under the impression that Bobby was cancer free and that the cancer had recently reappeared. I assumed he would beat it or that it might be a long battle. But that's what Bobby wanted me to think. He was a private man and he did not want us to worry about him. He also never was one to complain. That's a tough old southern man way of doing things and I would expect nothing else than that out of Bobby for he was a good old southern man.

Stopping to think, I am amazed looking back at the way Bobby put everything in order before passing. He announced that Ken Schrader will drive the 18 next year and that Chase Miller will drive the 4. What a way to go out. The last thing a man does for his family is make sure things are set up so that after he is gone it is as easy as possible for his family to carry on.

I have seen the love Bobby had for Bobby Jr and vice - versa. It was easy to see in both their eyes. And their eyes are both gleaming in front of me on the Fastenal poster on the wall behind my computer that I talked the guys at the local Fastenal store out of just this past summer.

During the summer of 05 I talked to the owner of the race track in Carthage Tennessee about buying the race track there. Bobby was looking into it too. Wouldn't it have been great to have been able to partner with him even at a 10% level.

God be with and bless the Bobby Hamilton family at this difficult time. Thanks so much for the memory I have watching Bobby win in the Kodak 4 in 1998 at Martinsville with my three year old beautiful little blonde daughter on my knee yelling "Go Bobby! Go Bobby!"

(The tears are flowing and I can't get my breath. I love you guys.)

O.K. I am back after gathering myself for a few seconds.

Later while watching another race, my daughter got her Bobby's confused and decided she liked the green Bobby better than the yellow Bobby.  She is a Bobby Labonte fan to this day at age 11 and had to have a Bobby Labonte shirt when we went to the Vegas race last year.

I'll never forget the Sage Burning Gang (on the old MMM (Morgan Mc Clure Motorsports message board)) and all the efriends I have gained from that and all the realities we have shared with one another in our own little real worlds. In my mind I am Burning Sage for Bobby Right now.

The Bible talks a lot about wine. I am sure there will be wine in heaven. Maybe I can have a glass with Bobby one day when I get to meet him there.

Cheers!

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Bobby Hamilton paid his early bills driving a wrecker, got his NASCAR break driving a car used in Days of Thunder and won the 2004 Craftsman Truck championship in his own truck.

Following his death Sunday of cancer at the age of 49, Hamilton was remembered for his love of the sport, kindness and blue-collar persona.

Nextel Cup driver Sterling Marlin, a fellow Tennessee native, said Sunday night that a lot of people didn't get to know Hamilton well, but that the driver who started with nothing and never had the best equipment would be missed.

"He would give you the shirt off his back, and he helped me out a lot through the years," Marlin said.

Born in Nashville in 1957, Hamilton got his start on local tracks and qualified fifth in his first Cup race at Phoenix in 1989 with a car used in the movie "Days of Thunder." He drove in all of NASCAR's top three divisions, making 371 Cup starts and winning four races in what is now the Nextel Cup series, including the 2001 Talladega 500.

  Bobby Hamilton won a handful of races on NASCAR's top circuit and an '04 Craftsman Truck title. (AP)   The death was shocking to people who had not seen him recently. His racing team announced only last month that Ken Schrader would drive its truck this season.

"NASCAR is saddened by the passing of Bobby Hamilton," said Jim Hunter, NASCAR's vice president of communications. "Bobby was a great competitor, dedicated team owner and friend. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of the Hamilton family."

Hamilton won 10 times in the truck series, including four victories in 2004 when he became the first owner-driver to win a NASCAR series title since the late Alan Kulwicki won the Winston Cup championship in 1992.

"I think at the end of the Cup deal, he was burnt out on the system. But he always had a good vision," Marlin said. "He always wanted to do things his own way, so he became his own boss, got into trucks, and it worked out well for him."

Hamilton was diagnosed in February with head and neck cancer. A malignant growth was found when swelling from dental surgery did not go down.

He raced in the first three truck races of the season, with a best finish of 14th at Atlanta Motor Speedway, before turning over the wheel to his son, Bobby Hamilton Jr. The senior Hamilton then started chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

Liz Allison, widow of former NASCAR star Davey Allison, co-hosted a local radio show with Hamilton that started in January 2006.

"The thing I loved about Bobby Sr. so much is that he treated everybody the same. It didn't matter if you were one of the drivers he competed against or a fan he'd never laid eyes on before," Allison said.

"He didn't have a pretentious bone in his body. I think that's why people were drawn to him. He was just very real and had a way of relating to everyone."

His son also replaced him on the radio show to fulfill his obligation.

By August, he returned to work at Bobby Hamilton Racing in Mount Juliet, about 20 miles east of Nashville. It was his fourth race shop, a facility lacking for nothing and built to prove he could stay in Tennessee and compete in a place he kept so clean he often walked around barefoot.

Doctors indicated his CAT scans looked good. But microscopic cancer cells remained on the right side of his neck.

"Cancer is an ongoing battle, and once you are diagnosed you always live with the thought of the disease in your body," Hamilton said in an article posted on NASCAR's Web site last month. "It is the worst thing you could ever imagine."

That was about as much as Hamilton shared with anyone outside his family and close friends.

"I love what I do; I love this business," he said in March 2006 when disclosing he had cancer. "NASCAR has been good to me, and I just don't feel comfortable when I am not around it."

Hamilton's Nextel Cup wins, in addition to Talladega, came at Phoenix, Rockingham and Martinsville. His best season was in 1996 when he finished ninth in the season standings. He won his first Cup race that year, at Phoenix.

Hamilton drove in the top-level NASCAR series from 1989-05, earning $14.3 million and racing to 20 top-five finishes.

He became a full-time driver-owner in the truck series in 2003.

Another NASCAR favorite, 1973 Winston Cup champion Benny Parsons, was diagnosed with cancer in his left lung in July. He was checked into intensive care last week at a North Carolina hospital.

In addition to Bobby Jr., Hamilton is survived by wife Lori and a granddaughter.

AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service

Copyright 2005-2006, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved

2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion Dies at 49

A Winner On and Off the Track.
A Good Friend.
A Champion.

Bobby Hamilton, Sr. (1957 - 2007)
2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion

We will forever remember two conversations with Bobby Hamilton. The first was following his victory at Daytona in 2005. In all of the commotion that followed the victory lane ceremonies, and really in deciding whether Bobby was the winner or Jimmy Spencer, we never had a chance to do a winner’s interview with him. Many drivers would just say ‘tough luck, catch me next week’ and be done with it. Not Bobby. We were able to reach him by phone and he invited us to his motorcoach to do a complete interview. It was a memorable night for many reasons, but to cap it off spending a few private moments with Bobby and Lori was a perfect end to an incredible weekend at Daytona.

The second conversation is the last we had with him at Atlanta in October, 2006. Bobby requested that we come in and do an interview to talk about a wide range of topics, including the health of his race team and his own personal health. He was always open and never shied away from any question asked of him. He even went out of his way to do a plug for TruckSeries.com, saying whenever he couldn’t be at the track he relied on our site to keep him updated.

Bobby was a great guy, and always treated us with respect. Our heartfelt condolences go to his family and his extended family at Bobby Hamilton Racing. He was a friend to our website, a terrific champion, as hard-nosed a driver as anyone out there, and it was always a pleasure to work with him. He will be missed.

- Charles Krall and Steve Keller, TruckSeries.com

01-08-2007

Bobby Hamilton: 1957 - 2007

John Close, CloseFinishes.com 

Bobby Hamilton poses with his 2004 championship trophies (High Sierra Photo)

Racers accept death on the speedway. It's mortality off the racetrack they have trouble dealing with. Such is the case today as the motorsports community struggles with the passing of Bobby Hamilton, Sr. Hamilton, 49, died Sunday around 3 p.m. at his home in Nashville, TN losing a year-long battle with cancer.

Hamilton broke onto the NASCAR Winston Cup scene when he drove one of the camera cars for the movie 'Days of Thunder.' Piloting the No. 51 Exxon Chevy fielded by Rick Hendrick for Paramount Pictures, Hamilton qualified fifth for the for the 1989 Autowerks 500 at Phoenix (AZ) International Raceway. His car, several hundred pounds heavier than those of his competitors because of the additional camera equipment, provided many of the shots that eventually were edited into the runaway success movie that introduced the sport to millions of people.

Hamilton's Cup career started in earnest a year later when he qualified Gary Bechtel's Diamond Ridge Racing No. 68 Pontiac eighth at Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600 eventually finishing 39th after crashing out of the event on Lap 102.

Eventually, Hamilton would make 371 NASCAR Cup Series career starts posting four wins, 20 top-5, 67 top-10 finishes and more than $15 million in earnings. Included in his career highlights were winning the 1991 Cup Series Rookie of the Year award and giving Richard Petty his first win as a team owner in 1996 at Phoenix.

Meanwhile, Hamilton's NASCAR Busch Series career totaled 86 starts and featured a win at Richmond (VA) Fairgrounds Raceway in 1989.

Bobby Hamilton's 2004 No. 4 Dodge. (High Sierra Photo)

In recent years, Hamilton became synonymous with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series - his efforts culminating with winning the division's 2004 championship. In all, Hamilton totaled 102 Truck Series starts scoring 10 victories - the first at Martinsville (VA) Speedway in 2000 and the last at Mansfield (OH) Speedway in 2004. His biggest win in the Truck Series came in the 2004 season-opening Daytona 250 - the first-ever night race for the trucks at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.

All his statistical accomplishments aside, Hamilton will long be remembered as a hard-nosed competitor on the track and a 'regular guy' off it. Never afraid to challenge NASCAR authority, Hamilton passed through pit road on three consecutive laps at the appropriate speed to protest a pit road speeding penalty imposed during a Truck Series event a couple years ago. Hamilton could care less that the action dropped him down in the final running order - he had already lost the race because of the infraction and there was a point to be made.

While Hamilton could be one of the division's most vocal critics in the garage area, it was never offered in malice and always directed for the betterment of the sport. In that spirit, he helped countless individuals - including this writer - gain a foothold in NASCAR giving them a chance to work on his race teams or suggesting them to someone else.

In the end, Bobby Hamilton loved racing - especially the home he found in the Truck Series at the end of his career. In an interview this writer conducted with Ted Musgrave at Daytona last February, Musgrave stated "I asked Bobby Hamilton why he decided to come to the Truck Series and he told me 'It's a place where you can wear your jeans and your T-shirt, hang out with your guys, go to the track, practice, qualify, race, go out for a burger, and bench race afterward. This is the way it should be.'"

At just age 49, Bobby Hamilton shouldn't be gone from our ranks. He should be at Daytona next month giving it his all behind the wheel on the track and mixing it up with "his guys" off it.

Sadly, that won't be the case.

Auto racing has lost a champion driver and - more importantly - a quality person. Bobby Hamilton will be sorely missed and fondly remembered by all whose path he crossed.

01-08-2007

Richard Petty Comments on the Passing of Bobby Hamilton

TruckSeries.com Report 

Bobby Hamilton was the driver of the famed '43' owned by Richard Petty from 1995-1997. He won for Petty Enterprises in 1996 at the Phoenix (Ariz.) International Speedway and also at the North Carolina Speedway (Rockingham) in 1997. Richard Petty commented on the passing of Bobby Hamilton.

"The entire Petty family and organization is saddened by the passing of Bobby Hamilton. Bobby was not only a huge part of the racing family, but of the Petty family as well. He will always be a part of our family. He had a heart of a champion and that affected everyone around him. You could always count on Bobby. He was just that type of guy. He never let you down and gave you everything he had on-and-off the track. His family is in our hearts and prayers."

Being from Tennessee it was natural to pull for Bobby after becoming aware of him during the filming of Days of Thunder.  He had to actually qualify the Mountain Dew car for the movie before NASCAR would let the producers put the car on the track to get film footage.  Things have changed a lot since then with NASCAR now tripping all over itself to accommodate the movie industry to get a cut of the (all of a sudden Hollywood wakes up and realizes family movies can deliver a) profit. 

On the other hand I lived in Valley Park, Missouri, in a subdivision right above Schrader's Uncle Dennis's automotive shop.  I caught smallmouth bass while wading the creek right behind the shop (while on their property probably).   I used to walk around the old Lake Hills Speedway just across the creek where Kenny ran many a race against the Wallaces back in the day.  The people that ran Schrader's modified operation went to school where my kids went and my wife taught.  (I was talking racing in a line at the school one night with this dude with Federated Auto Parts Kenny Schrader apparel on when all of a sudden the dude says "I was talking to Kenny last night.") So, while I hate to hear (between the lines apparently) that Bobby will not be racing this year, I am thrilled for Kenny who may need to fall back on this if his Nextel Cup opportunities come to an end.

And oh, by the way, if the Nashville based Little Debbies sponsorship eventually followed Kenny over to the Nashville (Lebanon) based Bobby Hamilton Racing (BHR), that would be "one sweet ride".

From: That'sRacin.com,

Schrader to Drive a Hamilton Dodge in Some Truck Races

By DAVID POOLE

The Charlotte Observer

Ken Schrader will drive the No. 18 Dodge trucks for Bobby Hamilton racing in 2007. A driver to be named will take over when Schrader’s Nextel Cup responsibilities with the Wood Brothers prevent him from competing in Truck events.

From: bobbyhamiltonracing.com

Schrader Set to Pilot the No. 18 Fastenal Dodge
Orlando, FL | 12-07-2006
Four-Time Cup Winner Partners with BHR and Fastenal for Majority of 2007 NCTS Campagin - NASCAR fan favorite Ken Schrader has been tabbed to drive the No. 18 Fastenal Dodge for Bobby Hamilton Racing during the 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season. Schrader and 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Bobby Hamilton have been both friends and competitors throughout their NASCAR careers and now they have joined forces to help re-establish BHR as a championship caliber NCTS team. “I am thrilled to get the opportunity to drive the Fastenal Dodge,” Schrader said. “Bobby Hamilton and I have been friends for a long time so to get the chance to work with him is just an ideal situation for me."

BHR has always had some of the most competitive equipment in the series and I look forward to climbing into the seat and racing hard. Fastenal is a great company, I don't think there is a race team out there that doesn't use most of their products in some form or fashion and I can't wait to represent them proudly next year."

From: truckseries.com

 12-07-2006

Schrader Set to Pilot the No. 18 Fastenal Dodge

Four-Time Cup Winner Partners with BHR and Fastenal for Majority of 2007 NCTS Campagin

The Fastenal Company, is a Minnesota based industrial and construction supply company with more than 1,800 stores in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Singapore and the Netherlands.

Schrader has four NASCAR Nextel Cup wins, two NASCAR Busch Series wins and one NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win to his credit. He has logged an amazing 283,398 miles in NASCAR Cup, Busch and Truck series events, that is equal to racing around the world 12 times or from New York to Los Angeles 94 times. In other words, Schrader has raced enough miles to go the moon and is now almost a fourth of the way back.

In 2007 the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will run 25 races on 22 separate racetracks across the United States. All of the NCTS events will be broadcast live nationally on the Speed Channel.