Well, Bobby Hamilton Jr. is not running in Mexico, which results in him not being a Nationwide Series regular, in my opinion. I have known this for a month and had been hoping Bobby would get another ride. But it hasn't happened.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (March 19, 2008) -- Team Rensi Motorsports announced today the signing of Boris Said to pilot the No. 25 No Fear Energy / Smithfield Foods Ford Fusion for the two NASCAR Nationwide Series international races -- in Mexico City (April 20) and Montreal (Aug. 2).
So it is time to change horses.
This week, the Germain Racing team heads south of the border to Mexico City, Mexico, for NASCAR’S first road course race of the 2008 season. Mike Wallace and the #7 GEICO Camry will hit the track at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez for their first practice on Friday, April 19th, at 2:00 PM (ET). Final practice is also on Friday at 4:05 PM (ET), followed by qualifying on Saturday afternoon at 11:35 AM (ET). The Corona 200 is on Sunday, April 20th, and it will be televised live on ESPN beginning at 1:30 PM (ET), while the Motor Racing Network (MRN) will carry the live radio broadcast.
With a 16th place finish in Friday Night’s Emerson 250 NASCAR Busch Series race, Bobby Hamilton, Jr. moved within 102 points of fifth position in the season long point’s race. The driver of the McDonald’s Ford Fusion currently stands in sixth position, second among non Nextel Cup drivers.
With time winding down, Hamilton hung tough and overcame slight damage to the right front of his car. The checkered flag waved with the McDonald’s Ford in 16th position. The finish allowed Hamilton to reposition himself for a run at fifth place in the point’s race. Nextel Cup driver David Ragan stands just 102 points ahead of Hamilton with seven races remaining in the 2007 Busch Series season.
“We had a super fast race car tonight, qualifying just made it tough on us,” Hamilton said. “We keep learning more information about these race cars, now we can go back, take this weekend off and apply some of the information to the final races of the year.”
Well my man Bobby Hamilton Jr. gave me a little bit more to cheer about on Friday night at Bristol. I was pretty excited when he used a gas mileage strategy to get to 5th place at one point in the race.
A gas mileage strategy at Bristol sounds like an oxymoron. But with the new track configuration that is what he did. That is some pretty smart strategy right there. And in the end it gave him a top 15 finish which isn't bad when there are as many Buschwackers out there as there were on Friday.
Never Give Up! The three words that best describe the effort of McDonald’s NASCAR Busch Series driver Bobby Hamilton, Jr. during Friday Night’s Food City 250 race. After qualifying in the 39th position, Hamilton very easily could have settled in for a long night of racing on the half mile speedway. Instead, he reached down deep and found the ability to pilot his No. 35 Team Rensi Motorsports machine to the front.
“We are happy to start as far back as we did and come home with a 12th place finish,” Hamilton said. “Chris and all the guys on the McDonald’s team gave a strong effort, allowing us to pass so many cars. We needed this run tonight and now we can go to California with some momentum.”
With the 12th place finish, Hamilton remained in sixth place in the season long Busch Series Point’s Championship.
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.
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