KANSAS CITY, KS. – Team Rensi Motorsports is looking for sponsorship for both of their Fords for the 2008 season. President Ronnie Russell said Saturday that the team will not operate next season unless sponsorship is found before the season finale in Homestead.
“Today we don’t have anything. We do have a reasonable commitment from a huge company that we feel good with on Bobby (Hamilton, Jr.)’s car. We feel very good about it but we do not have anything signed,” Russell said.
Prior to the start in Kansas Russell confirmed without hesitation that Hamilton, who is currently sixth in the overall driver standings, will be the driver of the No. 35 barring the sponsorship but as for current driver Richard Johns in the No. 25, that is yet to be determined, based on the funding.
“McDonalds is leaving. FreeCreditReport is leaving. From what we understand with McDonalds is they have always wanted Kasey Kahne. FreeCreditReport, there has been rumblings that they want Greg Biffle. Our sport is being run by about 12 Cup guys, over there and over here. Those 12 guys can’t do all of it. Even when you have 27 Cup guys running, people in the seats don’t come to see 27 Cup guys. They come to see five or six of them. We all know that. All you have to do is look at t-shirt sales,” he explains of the team’s forced financial troubles.
“We get things to where potential sponsors say ‘ We will never see it on TV.’ They won’t show a Busch guy on TV. That affects our sponsorship. We’re 42 points out of fifth place in this series. You would think that you would get something. You never get talked about. It’s like you don’t even exist.”
“I’m trying to work with every angle I can. I’m working with certain celebrities to maybe bring somebody in. If you don’t have a Cup guy you need a celebrity as an owner. You are trying to get in front of people and get talked about.”
It's an understatement to call this interview with NASCAR Busch driver Bobby Hamilton, Jr. candid. It's more than that! You won't believe what he has to say. He and the Speed Freaks discuss ####es, Bobby Labonte's love for PETA, Grey Goose Vodka, Hunting Beaver, Idiots at Bobby Hamilton Racing and more.
You'll enjoy this! Check out this hilarious Speed freaks audio!
Team Rensi Motorsports to Honor Bobby Hamilton, Sr. in Season Opening NASCAR Busch Series Race
On January 7th, the sport of NASCAR suffered a loss with the passing of former Nextel Cup driver and 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck series champion, Bobby Hamilton, Sr. On Saturday, Hamilton, Sr. will be remembered with a special paint scheme on the No. 35 McDonald’s Ford. Behind the wheel of the Team Rensi Motorsports McDonald's Ford Fusion will be the son of Hamilton, Sr., Bobby Hamilton, Jr. The McDonald’s Ford has been redesigned to carry the identical paint scheme of the car Hamilton, Sr. drove to his final Cup victory in 2001 at Talladega Super Speedway. On that special day in April, Hamilton, Sr. drove the No. 55 Square D sponsored car for team owner Andy Petree to victory lane.
Team Rensi Motorsports President Ronnie Russell was a long time friend of Bobby Hamilton, Sr. “Bobby was a very special person and he helped me and Team Rensi Motorsports grow over the years. With the return of Bobby, Jr. to Team Rensi Motorsports, we felt this was the perfect opportunity to honor his father's accomplishments in NASCAR. Everyone at Team Rensi Motorsports is excited about seeing the car on the track in Daytona Beach. With Bobby, Jr. behind the wheel, we feel strongly that the car will be in the lead pack all afternoon.”
Today I am continuing to report on an interview that Bobby Hamilton Jr. gave Sunday in Daytona. Believe me, cleaning up this interview, which was posted in Hamiltonease is no easy task itself. The self described #### runs a lot of partial sentences together like a lot of us southerners do. Today's subject is Team Rensi. Lookout Sterling Marlin, Bobby Jr. is slinging that middle Tennessee accent around a lot like you do and Bill Weber may be imitating him next instead of you.
Much of the personnel at Team Rensi is the same as it was when Bobby Hamilton Jr. drove the No. 25 Marines Ford for Ed Rensi as recently as 2004. According to Hamilton, "It's Ronnie Russell, and he's kind of the COO (Chief Operations Officer) and President that's running it for Ed. Rob Winchester was involved with the Marines forever. He's kind of Ronnie's right-hand man.
I walked in the shop, and the cool thing about it is that it's all people who I've not worked with but ran against in the past. It's a group of guys that either I used to work with them or ran against them. And, it was so easy. I walked in and used nicknames from school or nicknames from back in the past that we used, and that's kind of the relationship that we already have.
Whether it's going to be a homerun from the green flag here at Daytona, it's just like anything else, it's a building process. We will build it. I think after having the drought of success that I've had in the last two years, nothing burns more than wanting to run good and taking trophies home.
I've been 100 percent focused on trying to learn everything that I can and be involved, not in their business as far as running the team, but just with me and Chris Wright (crew chief) trying to be right-hand men for each other. He will call me at two or three o'clock in the morning, and I'll call him at two or three o'clock in morning and just bounce ideas off one another.
Things have changed so much that you can't go off two or three years ago. It changes every month, and I've told him that I'm not opposed to trying anything. 'Make sure my seatbelts are tight and I'll try it.' Whatever is going to make it fast, I want to try it and that's what it's about.
Hopefully this can kind of be starting over again. I think the best part about it is that I've been to all of the tracks. The only place that I haven't been to is Mexico. Other than that, hopefully my experience (in Busch Series Racing) from past years, and even in the Cup stuff, that's 500 miles of experience every week that I've learned, can come back and help.
These guys, I can try to feed them as much information as I can. I'll wear them out. The minute that I think of something, I'll be over there in the truck and run back out and tell them something else that I remember. I'll try to feed them everything I can and give them all of the information that I can. We can build (a relationship) where they can learn me and what I mean by my 'loose' or my 'tight.'
It's the same thing that me and Harold (Holly) had. We just had that niche from the beginning. He knew my, 'Dude, I'm going to die if you don't tighten this thing up.' He knew how bad that was. He knew when I would tell him that I was really good and don't touch it, he knew to go ahead and do this and this. That was just because we had that communication.
There's no doubt with as smart as Chris is and as good as he gets the cars to drive already that I can't just go in there and fill his brain with me - my #### terms. That's me, and when he learns that hopefully it will be the same. Right now as it is, you have to throw this place away because it's all about what you can get away with in tech, or motor. It's not about chassis. I'm ready to go to California and real race tracks. Not to throw rocks at this place, but just fast places where you can hang on and make speed and he can help me hang on and make speed."
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