Target Chip Ganassi Racing (TCGR) has won five of the first eight IndyCar races this season, a feat that was matched one other time in CGR history in 1998 when Jimmy Vasser and Alex Zanardi combined to win five of the first eight races under the CART banner. Both Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon donated their Iowa winnings last weekend to relief programs for the victims of floods and tornados in Iowa.
Wheldon commented, "It's very small in the grand scheme of things, but we're very proud to be able to do something. Hopefully it will put a smile on people's faces."
Wheldon and Dixon both have five starts at Richmond since 2003 and have scored one win and two podium finishes a piece. Wheldon has finished in the top-10 at every race on the Virginia short track.
"Bobby Hamilton Racing owner Lori Hamilton hopes a new partnership will return her team to victory lane for the first time since May 2005. "
Scenedaily.com
Lori Hamilton has made adjustments to Bobby Hamilton Racing in an effort to make the team more competitive. MICHAEL HELMAN / GETTY IMAGES
By Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM
In the offseason, BHR owner Lori Hamilton announced that the team formed by her late husband -- 2004 Truck Series champion Bobby Hamilton -- would merge with a diverse group of Virginia racers, take on a new name and relocate to Martinsville, Va. Bobby Hamilton had been passionate about maintaining a championship-level race team in his hometown of Mt. Juliet, Tenn., but on Saturday during a break in Truck Series Preseason Thunder testing at Daytona International Speedway, his widow said discussions of moving the team to Virginia had begun in 2005 -- nearly two years before Hamilton passed from neck cancer in early January 2007.
"BHR was extremely successful where it was, in Mt. Juliet and Bobby's vision was that he wanted it to be in his hometown, but behind the scenes we had numerous meetings with Martinsville and Henry County about moving the team," Lori Hamilton said. "NASCAR obviously has a hub and it's convenient to be close to [it]. "Does that mean that your team will be more successful or not more successful because you're right down the road from it? No, not necessarily -- but I think it's going to help us in the vision that we have the group of people that we've assembled."
On Saturday, the team's drivers, Stacy Compton and Truck Series veteran Dennis Setzer; and the ownership group including Martinsville Speedway president Clay Campbell, Arrington Manufacturing head Joey Arrington, Lori Hamilton and S&M Brands' chief executive officer Mac Bailey sat down to explain the dream.
"One of the things BHR lacked last year was Bobby. So we had to fill those roles and help secure Bobby's vision for many years to come." Lori Hamilton
"The people we've surrounded ourselves with, you can see, come from all different aspects of NASCAR," Hamilton said. "We have the sponsor side with Mac, the track side; with Mark Melling we have someone who's been an owner and the racer [Compton and Arrington] over here. "One of the things BHR lacked last year was Bobby -- and Bobby wore those hats. So we had to fill those roles and help secure Bobby's vision for many years to come and the best way to do that was to surround ourselves with strength and power. "When you put a group of powerful people together, they'll help push Dodge back up to where they deserve to be, because [Dodge] backed us through some difficult times. So the key group of people that came from Tennessee are there, and they're excited about it. Change is good."
But there was a price. While Hamilton said that a number of key members of the team's competition department had transferred -- including crew chief Marcus Richmond and truck chiefs Jonathan Ellis and Todd Perryman -- others did not. Hamilton said that engineer Jeff White, another long-term BHR fixture who most recently served as crew chief on the team's No. 18 Dodge, didn't make the transfer due to family considerations; and has taken a position as team engineer with Baker-Curb Racing's Nationwide Series team, which is based in Nashville, Tenn. Kip McCord, who along with Bobby Hamilton could be considered one of "the faces" of long-term Nashville racing and who served BHR as both a team manager and crew chief, opted not to make the move, Hamilton said.
BY BOB POCKRASS, SCENEDAILY.COM
In its 10-year existence, BHR won the 2004 title with Bobby Hamilton and scored 19 race wins and 22 poles.
Lori Hamilton said Stacy Compton and Joey Arrington are in the shop daily working with her to organize the team.
"They're on the competition side and I'm more to the office," Hamilton said. "These racers, they don't follow budgets very well."
"As Bobby would say, it's just time to kick their butt," Joey Arrington
Motorsport.com
The newly reconstituted Bobby Hamilton Racing Virginia (BHR VA), with the full support of manufacturer Dodge, expects the year to be fruitful. Dodge, a three-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Manufacturers' champion with 64 victories, hasn't seen Victory Lane since the late Hamilton won at Mansfield Motorsports Park in May 2005. As newly minted team co-owner, Joey Arrington had the final words.
"As Bobby would say, it's just time to kick their butt," he said.
Marcos Ambrose will enter his first race at Richmond International Raceway looking for a change of luck at the Circuit City 250 presented by FUNAI in Virginia this weekend. Ambrose will make his first start at the fast 0.75-mile speedway in the #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion, but the Australian has prior experience at Richmond after completing two days of NASCAR Busch Series open testing at the venue in March.
“We had a test at Richmond back in March so although I’ve never raced there we know what is ahead,” said Ambrose. We’ve made some changes since that test and I’m looking forward to getting out there trying our package out there."
Regan Smith, who admits that he sometimes over analyzes his performance after each race, feels a new surge of enthusiasm heading into this weekend's event -- the Goody's Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway. "Going into Bristol there were plenty of distractions since it was my debut and I was driving the number one car in points," offered Smith. "Now that we got that race out of the way and did a decent job I feel more relaxed about this weekend. I feel we have the potential of having a pretty good performance. It's exciting to get right back into the Army Chevy."
"I think of our soldiers in this situation," added Smith. "You never quit or allow a setback to get in the way of completing the mission. That's exactly how I feel heading into Martinsville."
Regarding Martinsville, Smith will be driving a new U.S. Army Chevrolet Impala SS in the second straight race for NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow. "We tested the Army Chevy last week at Greenville Pickens (S.C.) Speedway and we were pleased with the car," noted Smith. "Our goal is to have a top-20 performance and I know we can achieve that or maybe even better. We just need to stay out of trouble and avoid mistakes."
And before Smith heads to the half-mile flat track in Southern Virginia, he will make a call to his mentor, Mark Martin. "I plan on calling Mark on Thursday to go over a few things about the race," said Smith. "Mark really has a knack for teaching. When he talks you listen -- there's nobody better to get advice from."
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