I arrived at the track just before qualifying was to begin at 3:30 p.m.,. Shopping is usually my first routine. I noticed that Mike Wallace was going to sign autographs at his souvenier trailer at 4:00. Around 3:30, the sounds of racing engines and the announcer called me in to watch qualifying.
Bobby went out fairly early and put it on the provisional pole. But now I had a dilemma. What if Bobby was going to sign autographs? I hadn't found his trailer. Should I continue watching qualifying or go find his trailer? My mind told me to go find that trailer.
I noticed Kenny Wallace had a tent set up and was going to be signing souveniers. This was St. Louis after all and the Wallaces are local royalty.
As it turned out Bobby didn't have a trailer. Neither was any of his merchandise for sale in what may have qualified as the "Busch" souvenier trailer. The souvenier trailers were dominated by merchandise for the Nextel Cup elite.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. stuff was going cheap though. There will be no use carrying that Bud 8 stuff over to next year. Nope, that won't sell. Best dump it now, the souvie trailer salesmen are thinking.
I went back in to finish watching the qualifying. Bobby's provisional pole didn't hold. But it was fun hoping it would stay in the top 10 and give him a good start. In the end, he just missed the top 10.
McDonald’s NASCAR Busch Series driver Bobby Hamilton, Jr. continued his march through the summer racing season on Saturday Night. The Gateway International Raceway was the site of race number 21 of the 2007 season. Known for its long, tight straightaways and flat turns, Gateway is a challenge for even the most experienced of drivers. On this night, Hamilton would start from the 11th position in the field of 43 cars.
It seemed from the start that Hamilton had a top 15 or top 20 car. He slipped back early. Then he got lapped.
However, he continued to fight valiantly and the pit crew made good adjustments and had good stops. Bobby was later awarded with a lucky dog. He went on to make the most of it.
Saturday night’s race found Hamilton contending for a top-ten finish at the end of the night. The McDonald’s Team worked long and hard to improve the handling on Hamilton’s car over the 200 lap race. In the end, Hamilton dashed under the checkered flag for a 13th place finish. Hamilton remained in 7th place in the point’s championship, just 88 points out of fourth, 74 out of fifth and 69 behind sixth.
“We wanted to finish better here tonight and gain a few more points on some of these guys,” Hamilton said. “We are really looking forward to next Saturday night in Indianapolis. We need to leave there with a top five or top ten finish and head into the two road course races with some momentum.”
Watching the race live Bobby just didn't seem to have top ten equipment. It was evident he was racing hard. It appeared he drove an excellent race. The pit crew was excellent. Therefore, I am led to conclude that the Team Rensi equipment just isn't up to standard.
With 25 Nextel Cup drivers entered in Saturday’s Busch Series event, Bobby Hamilton, Jr. and the remaining 17 Busch Series drivers knew there would be nothing easy about the USG Durock 300. The race had all the makings for domination by the Cup drivers. The 25 Cup drivers were able to take advantage of nearly three times the amount of practice over the weekend in sweeping 17 of the top 20 positions on the 1.5 mile superspeedway. The advantages were just too strong for the 25 Cup drivers in the field. Hamilton crossed the finish line in the 29th position.
“Today was very tough for us, we did all we could with the practice we had to work with,” Hamilton said. “My guys worked hard on the Eckrich / McDonald’s Ford all weekend. We were real excited to have Eckrich on board our car this weekend. Now we can go to St. Louis and O’Reilly Raceway Park the next two weeks for what should be very good races for our team. We have our focus on moving up into the top-five in the point’s race and these next few weeks will be very important for us.”
Kevin Harvick captured the win, leading Matt Kenseth across the finish line.
Constant Reader knows I am a Bobby Hamilton Jr. fan. But what this article doesn't say is that Bobby was the seventh highest Busch regular. For whatever reason, Team Rensi's performance wasn't even up to their normal "Busch Regular" standards on Saturday.
Granted, this article does ease the pain of the disappointment of the 29th place finish to some degree.
Still, why did David Gilliland, driving similar Team Rensi equipment, finish 27th if it was all about practice? It seems to me that Rensi's equipment simply isn't up to the quality of the Nextel Cup operation's Busch cars. I would like to see Rensi admit this and Bobby's handlers and he himself complain a little less about the practice issue.
Bobby Ginn has no problem with a beer sponsorship and is hotly pursuing NASCAR's most coveted free agent. Ginn has room for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and has planned to expand to four teams since taking over majority ownership of the team known as MB2 Motorsports last season. The Florida-based land developer said several weeks ago he would pursue Earnhardt, and Ginn Racing has emerged as a viable option through on-track performance by Mark Martin and Ginn's desire to field a winner. Ginn said Saturday he's had "exploratory conversations" with Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, but has yet to speak to Earnhardt himself. He said he never would have taken it this far if he didn't think his organization was a perfect fit.
"If I had no ability to do it, I wouldn't have embarrassed myself or wasted his time," Ginn said. "I believe we can support it and I believe he wants to win and I want to win. You put two people together that are damned determined to get there, that's a combination that has generally led to successes. "I don't want to bring him here, if I had any opportunity to do it, and make him believe he can't win a championship." Jay Frye, general manager at Ginn, is a St. Louis native who once worked for Anheuser-Busch, the parent company for Budweiser. Ginn believes Frye's past relationship with A-B, and Ginn's entertainment ties to the resorts he owns and golf tournaments he hosts makes it a perfect fit. But he firmly believes Earnhardt is the most important part of the puzzle.
"You can build great cars and have great teams, but you've got to have that spark plug that is going to put you in the winning," Ginn said. "To go after a winner, even if we had no chance to get him, it's like asking a pretty girl for a date. You have nothing to lose, you might as well ask. But I wouldn't have asked if I didn't think I could support him."
Bobby Ginn has been planning to expand his operation to four cars since before this season started. Bobby Ginn talked to DEI during the past season about a working agreement with DEI that would have had them field four cars together. Instead, Ginn put his own three cars on the track and has built a team as good as, if not better than DEI, in only one year. Would he like to have Dale Earnhardt Jr. as his fourth driver? You bet your sweet bippy.
"Ginn Racing, the three-car organization owned by Florida real estate developer Bobby Ginn, ... plans to make an underdog play for Earnhardt. Jay Frye, the team's general manager and minority owner, is a St. Louis native who once worked at Anheuser-Busch, Budweiser's parent company, and has close friends within the Busch family. The team also has Mark Martin, whose near-miss in the Daytona 500 and repeated top-10 runs in Ginn's flagship No. 01 car gives the operation needed credibility when pitted against other Chevrolet squads with multiple championships. Their sales pitch: look at the potential, and what you could help build."
"'Mark was aware of how fast our cars were every week. Drivers know,' Frye said. '[Earnhardt] is a smart guy. He knows what's in the garage. He knows who the people are that we have here. He knows whether he'd be comfortable here or not. He wants to compete for wins every week and run for a championship. Have we done that? No, we haven't. Do we think we can? Yes. Are we building to do that? Yes. Could he help us do that? Sure. But it might not be where he wants to come help, he wants to do it now. I don't know. We haven't talked. He may not want to talk to us. I don't know.'"
I think Ginn is a long shot. But he is a go getter. That's for sure. Look at the equipment he gives Mark!
But is it the best fit for Dale? I don't know. I don't quite see it. Richard Childress Racing still looks like a better fit to me. The strength of Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer this year are awfully big arguments to go with Childress, given that Hendrick Racing doesn't appear to have a seat open.
However, I hope he listen's to what Bobby Ginn has to say...and considers the new smile this year on Mark Martin's face.
San Antonio had trouble stopping the Cavaliers as an eight-point fourth-quarter lead became an 82-78 road loss. Tony Parker poured in 26 points, and Tim Duncan had 18 for the Spurs while LeBron James had 19 and Larry Hughes 18 for the Cavaliers.
During the first quarter both teams went to their go to guys. The Spurs worked the ball inside to Duncan who made 2 layups for four of his eight first quarter points. Meanwhile LeBron James threw down on 2 buckets for four of his eight first quarter points. James added a couple of jumpers and a free throw and had 15 points at half time although the Spurs had the lead at that point 40 - 33.
The Spurs went up by ten 49 -39 when Brent Barry made a jump shot with 3:43 left in the third quarter. Tough defensive play in that quarter resulted in the teams combining for just 21 points as the Spurs were held to a season-low 10 points.
Tony Parker went on a tear in the fourth quarter scoring sixteen of his points in that period. However, during that time Cleveland made a 6 point run from 11:20 to 9:45 in the fourth tying the game at 52. Larry Hughs who had struggled some in the first half then became a vocal leader showing grit and determination as he got hot scoring five straight points for the Cavs giving them the lead at 60 - 57. Lebron James picked it up from there adding four more points extending the lead to 70 - 63. Damon Jones knocked it on out with a jumper and six straight free throws down the stretch. The Cavs scored 36 points in the final frame to take the 82-78 win.
Cavaliers Coach Mike Brown felt, "It was a very big win for us aginst a tough defensive team in a playoff type game where one team keeps it up for 48 minutes and the other eventually breaks."
And to think that Larry Hughes' father-in-law lived two doors down from me in the old neighborhood in St. Louis. I learned that when Odell was detailing some very nice rides one day and I told him I didn't know whose cars those were but that he should charge that guy double. That's when he told me they were Larry's. Odell, ask Larry if he can go easy on my Spurs next time. OK?
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