Bobby Hamilton Jr. was encouraged by his father to be his own man. Credit: Turner Sports New Media

Hamilton Jr. happy to be back with Team Rensi

29-year-old won't be involved with late father's Truck Series team

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Saying he's "washed and dried his hands" of the family race team, Bobby Hamilton Jr. was enjoying a sunny Sunday at Daytona International Speedway -- despite the obvious circumstances.

Hamilton, 29, was back in a Busch Series car for Jackson Hewitt Preseason Thunder at Daytona for the first time in three years and couldn't stop bubbling about the experience.

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"First, I'm just glad to be back," Hamilton said. "I walked in the garage and told my wife [Stephanie], 'This is where I'm supposed to be.' Pretty much, my whole career had been in the Busch Series. I'm just relaxing."

At the same time Hamilton was experiencing an almost unimaginable void of emptiness -- on the phone and at times at his driver's side window -- since his father, Bobby Hamilton, passed away from cancer on Jan. 7.

It meant no more opportunities to share testing notes with his dad, a winner in all three of NASCAR's national tours and the founder of Bobby Hamilton Racing, for which the father won the 2004 Craftsman Truck Series championship.

"With everything that we've been dealing with, I was glad to get to the racetrack where I don't have to answer phones and do everything else," Hamilton Jr. said. "It's silly to say that you're at work, but you're relaxing at the same time. There was no easier moment than to put up the window net [Sunday morning]."

But in a lunchtime media briefing Hamilton spoke bluntly about, not only his excitement about being re-united with owner Ed Rensi and his friends in the Busch Series, but also his future in the sport -- and with the race team his father spent the better part of his career building.

Hamilton won five races and two poles over two-and-a-half Busch seasons between 2002-2004, and finished in the top 10 in the standings in 2002 and 2003.

But, he said, on his father's advice to "get a foot in the door," he left Rensi's team midway through the 2004 season to replace Ricky Craven at PPI Motorsports.

From there, Hamilton had an abortive year in Nextel Cup in 2005 with PPI, finishing 36th in the championship and being pulled from the car for the series' two road-course races.

	Credit: Brian Cleary/Getty Images
	"They were wanting me to be a part of it, and like I said, there's people involved in it now that I just don't like, period. I don't like how it was run and I don't like where it's going." - Bobby Hamilton Jr.

"The Cup deal about put me out of business," Hamilton said. "Nobody would even talk to me. You went from winning four or five races a year and possibly a [Busch] championship, and jump over in a pile of junk and couldn't fall out of a tree.

"All of a sudden, you couldn't drive no more?"

Hamilton began 2006 unemployed before he stepped into his father's trucks at Bobby Hamilton Racing.

But last season was a disaster, with a pole, one top-five finish and six top-10s and 16th in the standings. But the disappointment on the track meant nothing compared to what Hamilton Jr. watched his father endure.

Hamilton battled cancer through most of the season, and struggled to stay on top of the day-to-day operation of his business. His son explained that he met with his father to discuss his future; not only in racing, but also with the racing operation his father had begun with Hamilton Jr.'s mother, Debbie, in Mt. Juliet, Tenn.

Hamilton said that, while his father indicated the team would ultimately be his, he advised him to do what was best for his career and his family, his wife and their young daughter, Haley.

"He patted me on the back, and he said, 'Your name is my legacy -- winning races is what I need you to do,' " Hamilton Jr. said. "That's what I'm trying to do.

"With everything going on [at BHR], it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. When I informed him that I wasn't really happy with the way things were going, that's when he told me it's not that important.

"He said, 'I've won my championship. I did what I wanted to do. I built it from the ground up and won my championship, and at the end of the rainbow, it's yours anyway so you can pretty much do what you want with it.'

"He informed me what the contracts were, and when I told him what I didn't like and what I did like, that's when he said, 'You've got your own career. You're not going to make me upset one way or another.'

"That was a relief because I kept hearing so much 'legacy this' and 'legacy that.' I get up every day with his name. As long as I have a [driving] job, you go across that [pre-race] stage and wave to the fans and they hear that [Hamilton] name, and they know [my father's legacy]."

Hamilton Jr. alluded to the fact that he had personal issues with some of the team's current management.

Bobby Hamilton made three Truck Series starts in 2006 before announcing he had cancer. Credit: Autostock

MESSAGE BOARD •   Send your condolences to Bobby Hamilton's family. HAMILTON DIES AT 49 Bobby Hamilton, the 2004 Truck Series champion, died Jan. 7 after a battle with neck cancer.  •   Complete story, click here BY THE NUMBERS Bobby Hamilton found Victory Lane in all three of NASCAR's top series, but when he went to the Lady in Black in a truck, he found his way to the front.  •   Hamilton: By the Numbers PHOTO GALLERY From driving the 43 car for Petty Enterprises to winning a Truck Series championship with his own team, Bobby Hamilton's career was multi-faceted.  • Hamilton: In Photos 2004 FLASHBACK The 2004 season was Bobby Hamilton's crowning moment in the Truck Series, but even in his championship year nothing was handed to the owner/driver.  •   Complete story, click here Reflecting on a titleBobby Hamilton looks back on his 2004 truck championship Lifting the trophyBobby Hamilton clinches the 2004 Truck Series championship '05: Up frontBobby Hamilton takes the points lead halfway through the year '05: Victory at MansfieldBobby Hamilton celebrates his UAW-GM Ohio 250 victory '05: To the lineBobby Hamilton edges Jimmy Spencer to win the Dodge Dealers 250 '04: Happy papaBobby Hamilton wins the Toyota 200 and celebrates with his son Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

"They were wanting me to be a part of it, and like I said, there's people involved in it now that I just don't like, period," Hamilton said. "I don't like how it was run and I don't like where it's going.

"Whatever happens happens. I heard a lot that it was built for Bobby Jr. to come back and build this thing into a Cup deal. There were three parties involved [in creating BHR].

"It was Bobby Hamilton, Debbie Hamilton and Bobby Jr. Six or seven months ago it was separated between [his father and mother, when Hamilton remarried], and it's like he told me, 'It's really not the same place that we planned it to be anyway.'

"That was a big ease off of me. Then he said, 'I'm telling you, I don't really know what's going to happen with it, so don't invest a lot of your time and effort into it because I'm afraid of where it's going. There's only a year left on contracts.'

"I hope they do a good job. You're right, I'm very bitter about things and I don't care. This is the first time that I've talked about it.

"I'm worried about myself [and my family]. Every time that I go to the stage or when I sign an autograph -- and when they say my name or if they sit there and look at a piece of paper and ask, 'Whose scribble is that?'

"Well, that's Bobby Hamilton Jr.' Hopefully they can remember my dad's involved in it. I don't need a bunch of metal -- a truck team sitting around to show fans that. I think the biggest thing people remember is him jumping on the hood [after a victory] and all of that stuff. That's what I've got -- memories.

"Hopefully those people and fans see that."

After Hamilton addressed the situation at mid-day, BHR officials issued a statement in response, saying, "We at Bobby Hamilton Racing are continuing operations with a team of people hand-selected by Bobby Hamilton Sr.

"This is the same team of people who helped Bobby Sr. win his NCTS championship title in 2004. The teams and our sponsors continued commitment is evident by the recent successful performance during testing in Daytona.

"During the past season, we have had the full support from Fastenal and Dodge who were supportive during Bobby's battle with cancer as well as his plan for continuing operations at BHR in his absence.

"We have so many members of the NASCAR, Fastenal and Dodge family, as well as personal friends and family members who have confidence in Bobby Hamilton Racing's success in 2007 and beyond.

"We wish that same success to Bobby Jr."

Hamilton Jr. said that's exactly what he hopes to do in his second stint with Rensi. He said once he met with Rensi and his general manager, Ronnie Russell, his decision was easy.

"We had our best success together and we've tried to go back and rekindle that, I guess," Hamilton said. "I talked to Ed [Rensi] at a Red Lobster in Daytona [in mid-summer] and we were talking about just the way things were going at the truck shop and stuff.

"Later, we were at Bristol and, of course, it was a horrible year last year with everything that was going on and told him, 'I can't be part of this -- I need somewhere to go.' "

Hamilton said Stephanie urged Rensi to "find a sponsor so we can come back home?" Shortly after, Rensi told Hamilton that McDonald's and Ford would return to back his No. 35 team, and the deal was done.

"It wasn't about money, I just wanted to go back somewhere fun and have a shot at winning races," Hamilton said. "It just happened to work out this way that these guys were making a change [when Regan Smith moved to Ginn Racing], everybody kinda opened their arms up a little bit for me and I fell back where I was.

"I couldn't ask to be in a better situation at all [because] I couldn't think of anywhere else I'd want to go."

Hamilton shook his two cars down Sunday morning, running only 11 laps total between them.

	Bobby Hamilton Jr. says having fun and taking care of his family are his main priority. Credit: Joe Robbins/Getty Images
	Inside the Numbers Hamilton Jr's Busch Series Stats Races 176 Wins 5 Top-5s 29 Top-10s 58 Poles 4 Avg. Start 14.9 Avg. Finish 19.0

He said he wanted to be in a position to verify how strong his car was, while drafting with series leaders Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Jamie McMurray -- as well as the car with which Kevin Harvick won the championship, which was being tested by Timothy Peters -- who all left after Sunday.

"We want to make sure that we get that drafting in to make sure we can see what our car is going to do," said Hamilton, who ended up 10th in the afternoon session. "Nothing toward the guys that are going to be here [Monday], but the best cars are here [Sunday]."

Hamilton said he planned to ride in his motorcoach from Nashville to Daytona, for Speedweeks -- and return home the same way.

"That's just another two or three days," Hamilton said, "but at the same time, life goes on. It's already going on."

He excitedly told a visitor to his garage stall about his new sports bar in Nashville, that he operates in addition to a downtown Nashville eatery he's owned for a couple years.

Besides that, he's trying to race as much as he can and enjoy life.

"We race Friday nights, and I have a Legends car, and I'm going racing on Saturday when I get home," he said. "And if there's somewhere Sunday or a Late Model race, I'm going.

"I had the stuff and that was always our little thing to go run that stuff, me and my dad, and it's no different [now]. The only difference is that I don't have anybody jerking the window net down chewing me out if I did something wrong.

"I can still go and have fun, and that's what I'm going to do. I have a little girl to take care of and my wife and a new house and a job at hand.

"Like I said, I've got to make sure Team Rensi is happy with me and McDonald's, and fill my calendar up and go to work."