Bobby Hamilton, Jr.

Charles Robert Hamilton Jr. (born January 8, 1978) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He formerly competed in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, Nationwide Series, and Camping World Truck Series.

Early career When he was fifteen years old, Hamilton found a Ford Pinto in his driveway as a gift from his father (2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion Bobby Hamilton). They fixed up the car, and Hamilton began racing it on weekends at the local speedway. In 1998, he moved to the ARCA series where he earned four top 5 finishes in five races.

Motorsports career 1998–2001 In 1998, Hamilton began to run some Busch Series races for the Sadler Brothers Racing No. 95 team. He made his debut at Rockingham in October, where he started in 27th position. He led four laps and finished 37th, three laps off the lead. He also made the race at Atlanta, had a nineteenth place start and twentieth-place finish. Hamilton and the No. 95 Shoney's Inn team entered 1999 with a part-time schedule. In four races with the team, his best start was sixth at Daytona, and his best finishes were 27th at Rockingham and Darlington. Hamilton did not race again until the Hensley Motorsports No. 63 Exxon Superflo team had an opening. He ran six of the next seven races, beginning at Watkins Glen. In that seat, he set his best career finish of 21st at Pikes Peak. Hamilton then moved over to the No. 22 Air Jamaica Team owned by Carroll Racing. He qualified for all the races he attempted, and matched his career best start of sixth at Charlotte. At Homestead-Miami Hamilton started fifteenth and finished ninth.

Hamilton got a full-time ride with Carroll in 2000, driving the newly formed No. 26 Chevy, with sponsorship from Baywatch. Hamilton had three top 10s in 2000, with a fourth at Talladega, and a pair of sevenths at Charlotte and Memphis. Hamilton also won his first career pole in the season finale at Homestead-Miami. He finished 19th in points. During the Homestead weekend in 2000, he made his Winston Cup Series debut at that track, driving the No. 57 Chevrolet owned by his father. He finished 33rd in that race, six laps down. He drove the No. 01 Coors Light Chevrolet for SABCO Racing the following week to a 31st-place finish.

Hamilton returned to Carroll had a pair of fifth at Darlington and Rockingham in 2001. He also added three other top-tens and won another pole at Fontana in addition to starting in the top-ten for half the races. After finishing seventeenth in points, he left the team. He made his Truck Series debut that year at The Milwaukee Mile in the No. 4 Dana Dodge Ram for BHR but exited early due to a transmission failure. He also ran three races in the No. 33 Oakwood Homes Chevy for Andy Petree Racing as a teammate to his father, filling in for the injured Joe Nemechek. He also ran seven Cup races late in the season for Morgan-McClure Motorsports, driving the No. 4 Kodak Chevy to three top-twenty finishes.

2002–2006

In 2002, Hamilton joined Team Rensi Motorsports to drive the No. 25 United States Marine Corps-sponsored Ford Taurus. He won his first career race at New Hampshire and finished eighth in points. He also had his first top-five finish in the Truck Series at Nashville Superspeedway, finishing seventh in his father's Square D entry. He had his statistically career-best season in 2003, where he won four Busch Series races and finished fourth in the final standings. He also partnered with Rensi to run some races at the Winston Cup level, his best finish being a fourteenth at Kansas Speedway in the No. 35 Marines Ford.

Hamilton returned to Rensi in 2004, but did not win a race. He competed in six Nextel Cup events for Phoenix Racing in the No. 09 Miccosukee Indian Gambling-sponsored Dodge and had a best finish of seventeenth. He also drove three times in the Truck Series, winning a pole in his father's No. 04 truck, as well as running twice for HT Motorsports. After 23 Busch races, he left Rensi to move up to the Nextel level, driving the No. 32 Tide-sponsored Chevrolet for PPI Motorsports. He was given the full-time ride for 2005, but struggled immensely, failing to qualify three times and not finishing any higher than eleventh. After driving two events in equipment leased from Front Row Motorsports, Hamilton was let go from PPI at the end of the season.

Without a full-time ride, Hamilton moved to the Truck Series, leasing equipment from the No. 08 team owned by Green Light Racing and running with Corky's Ribs and BBQ sponsorship. After three races, it was announced that his father had been diagnosed with head and neck cancer, and Hamilton was deemed his replacement in the No. 18 Fastenal-sponsored Dodge. He won the pole in his first race in the truck but only mustered a sixteenth place finish in points, as well as dealing with conflicts within the family-run organization. His attempt to run the 2006 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at the Cup level also failed.

Following his father's death on January 7, 2007, Hamilton was expected to take over ownership of the team; however, he was not part of the management named by the team's backers the following month. The team eventually closed down in 2008.

2007–present

In 2007, Hamilton returned to the Busch Series and Team Rensi, this time driving the No. 35 McDonald's Ford. He had three top-ten finishes and finished sixth in the final standings. After his #35 team folded in 2008, he moved back to the No. 25 car with Smithfield Foods sponsoring for thirty races. Despite missing two road course events, Hamilton had two top-tens and finished fifteenth in points. The team was ready to close near the end of the season when Smithfield's sponsorship ended, but Hamilton funded the team out of his own pocket for the final few races of the season to keep the team going. He also purchased a small portion of the Sadler Brothers team for whom he had begun his career, allowing them to run a limited schedule in the Nationwide and ARCA RE/MAX Series.

Before the 2009 season, Hamilton purchased a small portion of Rensi Motorsports and merged his own operation with the team, forming the new Rensi-Hamilton Racing operation. The No. 25 team lacked the sponsorship to run Hamilton, and he subsequently drove Randy MacDonald's #81 Dodge for a limited schedule. Hamilton returned to the Truck Series in 2010 for Rick Ware and also ran at Nashville Superspeedway in 2011 with Ware in their No. 1 truck.

After two years away from major-league racing, Hamilton returned to the track in 2014, signing with Carter 2 Motorsports to drive the team's No. 40 Dodge full-time in the ARCA Racing Series; however before his first race with the team, he was released. In 2015, Hamilton resigned with Carter 2 Motorsports to compete in the 2015 ARCA season.

In 2016, Hamilton started Hamilton-Hughes Racing, with none of the three cars entered at Daytona making the field. By the end of May, cars from Hamilton-Hughes Racing were no longer showing up to the track. Most recently Bobby is facing lawsuits from multiple drivers and the team has been evicted from its Russellville, Kentucky shop.

Other ventures In December 2009, Hamilton purchased Highland Rim Speedway, located in Ridgetop, Tennessee. In late 2010, Hamilton was accused of pulling a gun on a competitor at the track during a dispute; Hamilton stated he legally possessed the weapon and believed he was being threatened. No charges were filed in the case. In April 2011, Hamilton and fellow driver Chad Chaffin acquired a two-year contract for the rights to operate Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville, Tennessee. In November 2011, however, they were found by the Nashville State Fair to be in default on their obligations, and in April 2012, Hamilton was named in a lawsuit by Nashville for unpaid obligations related to the contract. Hamilton had declared bankruptcy that January, and the Highland Rim track was sold at public auction in February.

Personal life Hamilton currently resides in Greenbrier, Tennessee, with his wife Stephanie and a daughter named Haylie.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Nextel Cup Series NASCAR Nextel Cup Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Pts Ref 2000 Bobby Hamilton Racing 57 Chevy DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV MCH POC SON DAY NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV MAR CLT TAL CAR PHO HOM33 60th 134 Team SABCO 01 Chevy ATL31 2001 Andy Petree Racing 33 Chevy DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT39 DOV42 MCH24 POC SON DAY CHI NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN 47th 748 Morgan-McClure Motorsports 4 Chevy CLT33 MAR TAL14 PHO38 CAR17 HOM35 ATL15 NHA37 2003 Team Rensi Motorsports 35 Ford DAY CAR LVS ATLDNQ DAR BRI TEX TAL MAR CAL RCH CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY CHI NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV TAL KAN14 CLT MAR ATL27 PHO CAR HOM 55th 264 2004 Phoenix Racing 09 Dodge DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH17 CLT42 DOV POC MCH SON DAY42 CHI41 NHA19 POC IND GLN MCH38 BRI 39th 1271 PPI Motorsports 32 Chevy CAL38 RCH11 NHA DOV29 TAL43 KAN23 CLT15 MAR36 ATL38 PHO16 DAR31 HOM21 2005 DAY35 CAL20 LVS11 ATL38 BRI39 MAR40 TEX39 PHO35 TAL40 DAR30 RCH36 CLTDNQ DOV21 POC23 MCH31 SON DAY38 CHI21 NHA28 POC23 IND39 GLN MCH35 BRI35 CAL23 RCH43 NHA29 DOV33 TALDNQ KAN43 CLT41 MAR30 ATLDNQ TEX38 PHO35 HOM36 36th 2183 Front Row Motorsports TAL20 ATL39 2006 Bobby Hamilton Racing 04 Dodge DAY CAL LVSDNQ ATL BRI MAR TEX PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY CHI NHA POCDNQ INDDNQ GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH NHA DOV KAN TAL CLT MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM NA -

Daytona 500 Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish 2005 PPI Motorsports Chevrolet 22 35

Nationwide Series NASCAR Nationwide Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Pts Ref 1998 Sadler Brothers Racing 95 Pontiac DAY CAR LVS NSV DAR BRI TEX HCY TAL NHA NZH CLT DOV RCH PPR GLN MLW MYB CAL SBO IRP MCH BRI DAR RCHDNQ DOV CLT GTY CAR37 ATL20 HOM 83rd 160 1999 Chevy DAY30 CAR27 LVSDNQ ATLDNQ DAR27 TEXDNQ NSVDNQ BRI TAL33 CAL NHA RCHDNQ NZH CLT DOV SBO 39th 1351 HVP Motorsports 63 Chevy GLN26 MLW39 MYBDNQ PPR21 GTY28 IRP42 MCH23 BRIDNQ Carroll Racing 22 Chevy DAR42 RCH41 DOV21 CLT30 CAR39 MEM22 PHO30 HOM9 2000 26 DAY28 CAR21 LVS41 ATL38 DAR30 BRI36 TEX29 NSV19 TAL4 CAL35 RCH14 NHA11 CLT23 DOV37 SBO14 MYB18 GLN21 MLW13 NZH33 PPR17 GTY19 IRP24 MCH18 BRI38 DAR43 RCH33 DOV13 CLT7 CAR25 MEM7 PHO24 HOM22 19th 2968 2001 DAY33 CAR5 LVS37 ATL36 DAR6 BRI23 TEX19 NSH26 TAL23 CAL14 RCH24 NHA7 NZH7 CLT14 DOV28 KEN12 MLW34 GLN29 CHI41 GTY18 PPR15 IRP19 MCH21 BRI32 DAR5 RCH33 DOV13 KAN34 CLT12 MEM15 PHO36 CAR21 HOM26 17th 3267 2002 Team Rensi Motorsports 25 Ford DAY30 CAR16 LVS11 DAR12 BRI13 TEX8 NSH3 TAL22 CAL37 RCH25* NHA1* NZH6 CLT7 DOV3 NSH2 KEN36 MLW7 DAY33 CHI9 GTY17 PPR12 IRP31 MCH5 BRI32 DAR6 RCH14 DOV30 KAN8 CLT9 MEM37 ATL8 CAR29 PHO24 HOM5 8th 4058 2003 DAY7 CAR13 LVS34 DAR12 BRI6 TEX40 TAL35 NSH10* CAL18 RCH10 GTY5 NZH9 CLT13 DOV6 NSH5 KEN1* MLW10 DAY22 CHI1* NHA6 PPR25 IRP35 MCH3 BRI34 DAR4 RCH3 DOV2 KAN19 CLT7 MEM1 ATL3 PHO1* CAR3 HOM3 4th 4588 2004 DAY13 CAR8 LVS5 DAR19 BRI24 TEX5 NSH27 TAL24 CAL10 GTY4 RCH4 NZH2* CLT13 DOV4 NSH23 KEN28* MLW5 DAY12 CHI43 NHA9 PPR10 IRP6 MCH29 BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM ATL PHO DAR HOM 22nd 2896 2007 Team Rensi Motorsports 35 Ford DAY24 CAL29 MXC17 LVS14 ATL24 BRI18 NSH9 TEX14 PHO34 TAL12 RCH22 DAR20 CLT33 DOV10 NSH13 KEN36 MLW13 NHA20 DAY12 CHI29 GTY13 IRP13 CGV24 GLN22 MCH27 BRI12 CAL21 RCH16 DOV12 KAN20 CLT16 MEM38 TEX14 PHO24 HOM8 6th 3667 2008 25 DAY22 CAL20 LVS12 ATL23 BRI17 NSH10 TEX23 PHO13 MXC TAL3 RCH17 DAR30 CLT18 DOV14 NSH30 KEN21 MLW15 NHA16 DAY15 CHI19 GTY20 IRP14 CGV GLN16 MCH18 BRI18 CAL19 RCH14 DOV15 KAN25 CLT37 MEM21 TEX16 PHO18 HOM21 15th 3566 2009 MacDonald Motorsports 81 Dodge DAY CAL LVS BRI TEX NSH PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV15 NSH14 KEN27 MLW19 NHA29 DAY CHI GTY ATL30 RCH23 DOV28 KAN CAL CLT MEM TEX PHO HOM 53rd 846 Rensi-Hamilton Motorsports 25 Ford IRP22 IOW GLN MCH BRI CGV

Camping World Truck Series NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Pts Ref 2001 Bobby Hamilton Racing 4 Dodge DAY HOM MMR MAR GTY DAR PPR DOV TEX MEM MLW33 KAN KEN NHA IRP NSH CIC NZH RCH SBO TEX LVS PHO CAL 126th - 2002 DAY DAR MAR GTY PPR DOV TEX MEM MLW KAN KEN NHA MCH IRP NSH4 RCH TEX SBO LVS CAL PHO HOM 70th 165 2004 Bobby Hamilton Racing 04 Dodge DAY ATL MAR MFD CLT DOV TEX MEM MLW KAN KEN GTW MCH IRP NSH4 BRI RCH NHA LVS CAL TEX 46th 395 HT Motorsports 59 Dodge MAR9 PHO DAR27 HOM 2006 Bobby Hamilton Racing 08 Dodge DAY7 CAL22 ATL19 16th 2671 18 MAR10 GTY7 CLT21 MFD18 DOV13 TEX25 MCH28 MLW31 KAN15 KEN24 MEM35 IRP31 NSH13 BRI9 NHA26 LVS26 TAL13 MAR32 ATL9 TEX12 PHO32 HOM4 2010 Rick Ware Racing 6 Chevy DAY ATL MAR NSH KAN DOV CLT TEX MCH IOW GTW IRP POC32 NSH24 DAR 42nd 679 47 BRI13 CHI KEN NHA10 LVS MAR TAL TEX13 PHO10 HOM 2011 1 DAY PHO DAR MAR NSH22 DOV CLT KAN TEX KEN IOW NSH IRP POC MCH BRI ATL CHI NHA KEN LVS TAL MAR TEX HOM 64th 22

ARCA Racing Series (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.) ARCA Racing Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Pts Ref 1998 Bobby Hamilton Racing 43 Pontiac DAY ATL SLM CLT MEM MCH POC5 SBS TOL PPR POC25 KIL FRS ISF ATL DSF SLM TEX WIN N/A - Sadler Brothers Racing 95 Chevy CLT3 TAL5 ATL2* 1999 DAY3 ATL SLM AND CLT16 MCH23 POCDNQ TOL SBS BLN POC KIL FRS FLM ISF WIN DSF SLM CLT TAL ATL 56th 505 2015 Carter 2 Motorsports 97 Dodge DAY26 MOB13 NSH12 SLM18 TAL22 TOL8 NJE13 POC19 MCH19 CHI15 WIN IOW IRP POC BLN ISF DSF SLM KEN KAN 14th 1975 2016 Hamilton-Hughes Racing 4 Dodge DAYDNQ NSH SLM 120th 130 64 TAL25 TOL NJM POC MCH MAD WIN IOW IRP POC BLN ISF DSF SLM CHI KEN KAN

Season still in progress Ineligible for series points

Notes and references