Bobby Hamilton Jr.

Bobby Hamilton Jr.
Born	Charles Robert Hamilton Jr. (1978-01-08) January 8, 1978 Nashville, Tennessee
NASCAR Cup Series career
64 races run over 5 years
Best finish	36th (2005)
First race	2000 Pennzoil 400 (Homestead)
Last race	2005 Ford 400 (Homestead)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
253 races run over 10 years
Best finish	4th (2003)
First race	1998 AC Delco 200 (Rockingham)
Last race	2009 Dover 200 (Dover)
First win	2002 Busch 200 (Loudon)
Last win	2003 Bashas' Supermarkets 200 (Phoenix)
Wins Top tens Poles 5 63 4
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
37 races run over 6 years
Best finish	16th (2006)
First race	2001 GNC Live Well 200 (Milwaukee)
Last race	2011 Bully Hill Vineyards 200 (Nashville)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 11 2
Statistics current as of November 28, 2012.

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 15 years old, he 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.

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 19th place start and 20th-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 6th at Daytona, and his best finishes were 27th at Rockingham and Darlington. He 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 6th at Charlotte. At Homestead-Miami Hamilton started 15th and finished 9th.

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 5th at Darlington and Rockingham in 2001. He also added three other top-10s, and won another pole at Fontana in addition to starting in the top-10 for half the races. After finishing 17th 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

Hamilton at Bristol Motor Speedway in August 2007

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 14th 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 11th. 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 16th-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

Hamilton's #81 MacDonald Motorsports car in 2009

In 2007, Hamilton returned to the Busch Series and Team Rensi, this time driving the #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 #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 #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 #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 Bobby 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, KY shop.

Other ventures

Hamilton replaced his father in 2006 as co-host of "The Driver's Zone" on WGFX 104.5 The Zone in Nashville with Liz Hackett, the remarried widow of Davey Allison, who uses her first husband's surname on the radio show.

Hamilton and wife Stephanie own the Courthouse Cafe in Springfield, Tennessee.

In December 2009, Hamilton purchased Highland Rim Speedway, located in Ridgetop, Tennessee; the track was where he had competed in his first race. 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 White House, Tennessee, with his wife Stephanie and a daughter.

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	NNCC	Pts
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	HOM 33				60th	134
	Team SABCO	01	Chevy																																		ATL 31
2001	Andy Petree Racing	33	Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH	CLT 39	DOV 42	MCH 24	POC	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN									47th	748
	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	4	Chevy																													CLT 33	MAR	TAL 14	PHO 38	CAR 17	HOM 35	ATL 15	NHA 37
2003	Team Rensi Motorsports	35	Ford	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL DNQ	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	KAN 14	CLT	MAR	ATL 27	PHO	CAR	HOM	55th	264
2004	Phoenix Racing	09	Dodge	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH 17	CLT 42	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY 42	CHI 41	NHA 19	POC	IND	GLN	MCH 38	BRI													39th	1271
	PPI Motorsports	32	Chevy																									CAL 38	RCH 11	NHA	DOV 29	TAL 43	KAN 23	CLT 15	MAR 36	ATL 38	PHO 16	DAR 31	HOM 21
2005				DAY 35	CAL 20	LVS 11	ATL 38	BRI 39	MAR 40	TEX 39	PHO 35	TAL 40	DAR 30	RCH 36	CLT DNQ	DOV 21	POC 23	MCH 31	SON	DAY 38	CHI 21	NHA 28	POC 23	IND 39	GLN	MCH 35	BRI 35	CAL 23	RCH 43	NHA 29	DOV 33	TAL DNQ	KAN 43	CLT 41	MAR 30	ATL DNQ	TEX 38	PHO 35	HOM 36	36th	2183
	Front Row Motorsports																															TAL 20				ATL 39
2006	Bobby Hamilton Racing	04	Dodge	DAY	CAL	LVS DNQ	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC DNQ	IND DNQ	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	NA	-

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	NNSC	Pts
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	RCH DNQ	DOV	CLT	GTY	CAR 37	ATL 20	HOM					83rd	160
1999			Chevy	DAY 30	CAR 27	LVS DNQ	ATL DNQ	DAR 27	TEX DNQ	NSV DNQ	BRI	TAL 33	CAL	NHA	RCH DNQ	NZH	CLT	DOV	SBO																				39th	1351
	HVP Motorsports	63	Chevy																	GLN 26	MLW 39	MYB DNQ	PPR 21	GTY 28	IRP 42	MCH 23	BRI DNQ
	Carroll Racing	22	Chevy																									DAR 42	RCH 41	DOV 21	CLT 30	CAR 39	MEM 22	PHO 30	HOM 9
2000		26		DAY 28	CAR 21	LVS 41	ATL 38	DAR 30	BRI 36	TEX 29	NSV 19	TAL 4	CAL 35	RCH 14	NHA 11	CLT 23	DOV 37	SBO 14	MYB 18	GLN 21	MLW 13	NZH 33	PPR 17	GTY 19	IRP 24	MCH 18	BRI 38	DAR 43	RCH 33	DOV 13	CLT 7	CAR 25	MEM 7	PHO 24	HOM 22				19th	2968
2001				DAY 33	CAR 5	LVS 37	ATL 36	DAR 6	BRI 23	TEX 19	NSH 26	TAL 23	CAL 14	RCH 24	NHA 7	NZH 7	CLT 14	DOV 28	KEN 12	MLW 34	GLN 29	CHI 41	GTY 18	PPR 15	IRP 19	MCH 21	BRI 32	DAR 5	RCH 33	DOV 13	KAN 34	CLT 12	MEM 15	PHO 36	CAR 21	HOM 26			17th	3267
2002	Team Rensi Motorsports	25	Ford	DAY 30	CAR 16	LVS 11	DAR 12	BRI 13	TEX 8	NSH 3	TAL 22	CAL 37	RCH 25*	NHA 1*	NZH 6	CLT 7	DOV 3	NSH 2	KEN 36	MLW 7	DAY 33	CHI 9	GTY 17	PPR 12	IRP 31	MCH 5	BRI 32	DAR 6	RCH 14	DOV 30	KAN 8	CLT 9	MEM 37	ATL 8	CAR 29	PHO 24	HOM 5		8th	4058
2003				DAY 7	CAR 13	LVS 34	DAR 12	BRI 6	TEX 40	TAL 35	NSH 10*	CAL 18	RCH 10	GTY 5	NZH 9	CLT 13	DOV 6	NSH 5	KEN 1*	MLW 10	DAY 22	CHI 1*	NHA 6	PPR 25	IRP 35	MCH 3	BRI 34	DAR 4	RCH 3	DOV 2	KAN 19	CLT 7	MEM 1	ATL 3	PHO 1*	CAR 3	HOM 3		4th	4588
2004				DAY 13	CAR 8	LVS 5	DAR 19	BRI 24	TEX 5	NSH 27	TAL 24	CAL 10	GTY 4	RCH 4	NZH 2*	CLT 13	DOV 4	NSH 23	KEN 28*	MLW 5	DAY 12	CHI 43	NHA 9	PPR 10	IRP 6	MCH 29	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	ATL	PHO	DAR	HOM		22nd	2896
2007	Team Rensi Motorsports	35	Ford	DAY 24	CAL 29	MXC 17	LVS 14	ATL 24	BRI 18	NSH 9	TEX 14	PHO 34	TAL 12	RCH 22	DAR 20	CLT 33	DOV 10	NSH 13	KEN 36	MLW 13	NHA 20	DAY 12	CHI 29	GTY 13	IRP 13	CGV 24	GLN 22	MCH 27	BRI 12	CAL 21	RCH 16	DOV 12	KAN 20	CLT 16	MEM 38	TEX 14	PHO 24	HOM 8	6th	3667
2008		25		DAY 22	CAL 20	LVS 12	ATL 23	BRI 17	NSH 10	TEX 23	PHO 13	MXC	TAL 3	RCH 17	DAR 30	CLT 18	DOV 14	NSH 30	KEN 21	MLW 15	NHA 16	DAY 15	CHI 19	GTY 20	IRP 14	CGV	GLN 16	MCH 18	BRI 18	CAL 19	RCH 14	DOV 15	KAN 25	CLT 37	MEM 21	TEX 16	PHO 18	HOM 21	15th	3566
2009	MacDonald Motorsports	81	Dodge	DAY	CAL	LVS	BRI	TEX	NSH	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV 15	NSH 14	KEN 27	MLW 19	NHA 29	DAY	CHI	GTY							ATL 30	RCH 23	DOV 28	KAN	CAL	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	53rd	846
	Rensi-Hamilton Motorsports	25	Ford																				IRP 22	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	NCWTC	Pts
2001	Bobby Hamilton Racing	4	Dodge	DAY	HOM	MMR	MAR	GTY	DAR	PPR	DOV	TEX	MEM	MLW 33	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	NSH 4	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	NSH 4	BRI	RCH	NHA	LVS	CAL	TEX					46th	395
	HT Motorsports	59	Dodge																						MAR 9	PHO	DAR 27	HOM
2006	Bobby Hamilton Racing	08	Dodge	DAY 7	CAL 22	ATL 19																							16th	2671
		18					MAR 10	GTY 7	CLT 21	MFD 18	DOV 13	TEX 25	MCH 28	MLW 31	KAN 15	KEN 24	MEM 35	IRP 31	NSH 13	BRI 9	NHA 26	LVS 26	TAL 13	MAR 32	ATL 9	TEX 12	PHO 32	HOM 4
2010	Rick Ware Racing	6	Chevy	DAY	ATL	MAR	NSH	KAN	DOV	CLT	TEX	MCH	IOW	GTW	IRP	POC 32	NSH 24	DAR											42nd	679
		47																	BRI 13	CHI	KEN	NHA 10	LVS	MAR	TAL	TEX 13	PHO 10	HOM
2011		1		DAY	PHO	DAR	MAR	NSH 22	DOV	CLT	KAN	TEX	KEN	IOW	NSH	IRP	POC	MCH	BRI	ATL	CHI	NHA	KEN	LVS	TAL	MAR	TEX	HOM	64th	22

^* Season still in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

External links

• Bobby Hamilton Jr. driver statistics at Racing-Reference