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Posted by 14Falcons
on 12/20/2007, 8:13 pm
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Updated: December 13, 3:08 PM ET
Hamilton anxious to put forgettable 2007 season behind him
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By Mark Ashenfelter
ESPN.com
Bobby Hamilton Jr. has clearly had a year to forget both on and off the racetrack. But after heading into the offseason wondering if he'd even have a ride in the Nationwide Series for 2008, it appears he'll have one less worry.
A spokesman for Team Rensi Motorsports said Wednesday that an announcement of a sponsor for 30 of the 35 races should be made within a few days. The team will then hope to find sponsorship for the remaining races, or will simply run just 30 events.
A two-car team this past year, Team Rensi will campaign only Hamilton's Ford in '08.
Hamilton just hopes it's a season more rewarding than the one that concluded a month ago at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Making his return to the Busch Series after a two-season absence, he finished a respectable sixth in points, a result that was highly misleading.
Hamilton posted only three top-10 finishes on the year and led one lap the entire season. His place in the points standings was as much a factor of running the full 35-race schedule as anything, since the series was dominated by Cup drivers.
"It was OK, I guess, we were top 10 in points," Hamilton said at Homestead. "I'm frustrated about all kind of different things. You look at things like sponsors; they don't get TV time enough. You tell NASCAR about it and then, all of a sudden, you get interviews, and then the interviews stop and [the media goes] to the first Cup guy that qualified 29th, crap like that."
The driver mentioned the fact that Team Rensi will field just one Nationwide Series car, while Robert Yates Racing's team for Stephen Leicht is also going out of business. At times, he wonders what the future holds, despite statements from NASCAR officials that the series has a solid future, including a new-style car on tap for 2009.
There is talk of a plan that will keep Cup drivers from receiving points in the Nationwide Series starting in 2009, but Hamilton isn't sure what that will do to help. As he sees it now, Cup drivers have a major advantage simply due to the way things are scheduled.
"They get right out of their Cup cars [from a Saturday practice] and into the Busch car [for qualifying and then the race], and they're all just killing you," Hamilton said. "That's part of it, that's what's dealt to you."
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