Hamilton Jr. will miss 2 Nationwide races in 2008
By Lee Montgomery - Associate Editor
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Nick Laham / Getty Images for NASCAR
DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 14: Bobby Hamilton Jr., driver of the #25 Smithfield Foods Ford, sits in his car during practice for the Camping World 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series at Daytona International Speedway on February 14, 2008 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images for NASCAR)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bobby Hamilton Jr. said he will miss two Nationwide Series races this season because his Team Rensi Motorsports team doesn’t have sponsorship for those events.
Hamilton Jr. will skip the road-course events at Mexico City and Montreal. The No. 25 Ford team has sponsorship for 30 races, Hamilton Jr. said, but anticipates getting a backer for three other events.
“As of now, we’re not going to Canada or Mexico,” Hamilton Jr. said. “It’s not sponsored. We’ll do what we need to do. The bottom line is, it’s not in the budget.”
Team Rensi cut back from two to one car for 2008 because of sponsorship troubles, selling the points from last year’s No. 25 team to Rusty Wallace Racing.
Hamilton Jr. isn’t worried about the points consequences from skipping two events. The biggest consequence is the team will forfeit being locked into the field after the April race at Mexico because teams must attempt to qualify for every race to get one of the 30 guaranteed positions.
“The way I looked at it is Kevin Harvick missed 10 races and finished fourth in points,” Hamilton Jr. said. “There’s no reason why I can’t miss one or two and still finish where I finished [sixth in 2007]. That’s my goal.”
