Hamilton waiting impatiently to return

LOUDON, N.H. -- NASCAR Winston Cup driver Bobby Hamilton, who cracked his right shoulder blade and left wrist in a Craftsman Truck Series crash Sept. 5 at Richmond International Raceway, plans to be back in a race car in little more than three weeks.

	Bobby Hamilton plans to return behind the wheel later this month. Credit: Autostock

Hamilton, who Friday at New Hampshire International Speedway simply had a brace on his wrist and no restraint for his shoulder, plans to attend each upcoming race as NASCAR Busch Series point leader Greg Biffle stands in for him in the No. 55 Chevrolet.

On Friday, Biffle's third place qualifying run perked up the entire team just six days after he led 12 laps at Richmond -- his first race replacing Hamilton and only the third Cup start of his career.

Hamilton said he is already at his truck shop in Mount Juliet, Tenn., daily, running errands around town and trying to stay busy.

"People tell me that there is no way I should be doing the things that I am doing right now," Hamilton said, "but I'm bored sitting at home. I've been at my truck shop and running errands every day."

The next step for him, besides coaching Biffle as much as he can, will be to get back in the seat of his Andy Petree Racing Chevrolet.

"We will go straight to Atlanta after Kansas City (Sept. 29) to test for two days (Oct. 1-2)," APR crew chief Jimmy Elledge said. "Then we will test in Martinsville for two days (Oct. 8-9) after Talladega. The last test we will do this year is after the Charlotte race in Phoenix on Oct. 14-15."

From the looks of him Friday, Hamilton, 45, is ready.

"I've only had one day of rehab because I didn't get a chance to see the doctor until Thursday," Hamilton said from atop the APR hauler as he watched Bud Pole Qualifying. "He cut the cast off my wrist because he said it didn't need to be there and moved my shoulder around some.

"He sent me right to rehab. I am strong as an ox right now -- I mean, I don't hurt. He gave me pain medication but I was home for two days and got rid of all that because I just don't hurt for some reason."

At this point, Hamilton said his rehabilitation exercises are critical.

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"I've still got to get my muscles freed back up for my shoulder," Hamilton said. "Where my shoulder blade is cracked is under a mass of muscles so I have to work on that to get it comfortable."

He plans to be ready to test.

"I'm testing in a couple weeks," Hamilton said. "We can test for two or three laps or do a race run of as much as 40 laps and that's a lot different than sitting in one (car) for more than three hours.

"I don't think I will try to race until Charlotte (Oct. 13) or definitely Martinsville (Oct. 20). I just think sometimes guys get pressured into doing something that they really don't need to do.

"I'm not in that situation because Andy (Petree, team owner) is working real good with me. I am coming to all the racetracks, anyway, to do all the stuff with the sponsor because Schneider does hospitality at every race."

And he is trying to coach Biffle in whatever ways he can to give him the benefit of 362 Winston Cup starts and four wins.

"It depends on the situation, but there is always something to say," Hamilton said. "Greg is the kind of person who listens to others and thinks about how he can relate that to his own particular driving style.

"He's a good driver and has a tremendous amount of potential in this series next year -- he could even log a win this year. The opportunity to drive this car will help him learn some tricks of the trade to make it in this series. It's about experience.