Bobby Hamilton, Jr. – Click on photo to see it larger

Bobby Hamilton Has Great Start to Season

The air was crackling with excitement as Bobby Hamilton, Jr. made his debut in the No. 25 Team Rensi Motorsports/Smithfield Ford Fusion on Saturday afternoon in the Camping World 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

The green flag dropped on 43 cars with 80 degree weather and a pitcher full of Florida sunshine. The day was perfect for racing on the 2.5-mile high banked super speedway. Hamilton ran a strategic race for the first 100 laps, keeping his eye on the final prize of finishing the race. A torn up race car at Daytona can send a driver's season into a tailspin with 34 races remaining.

With 20 laps to go, Hamilton was in 17th place and was positioned for a charge to the front. Unfortunately, the Team Smithfield Foods Ford was fighting a tight chassis condition at the end of the race, making it tough to drive into the lead pack. Hamilton fought hard, but registered a 22nd place finish at the checkered flag.

“It was great to drive this awesome looking car today. I just hate we couldn’t go there at the end. We will take the finish and head on for California and Las Vegas where we should contend for a top-ten finish. I have a great sponsor, a super team, and we will be a force to reckon with this season.”

This week the Nationwide Series moves to California for the Statler Bros. 300. Be sure to tune to ESPN2 at 7 p.m. tomorrow for all the action. In the meantime, check out the photo of Bobby Hamilton in the Team Rensi/Smithfield #25 race car with the Scleroderma Foundation logo proudly represented.