(born
May 29 ,
1957 in
Nashville ,
Tennessee ) is a driver and owner in the
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series circuit. Hamilton currently owns Bobby Hamilton Racing, which regularly fields three entries (including Hamilton's own) in each NCTS event.
Hamilton began his racing career at
Nashville Speedway USA , racing on the weekly circuit at the legendary track, where he won the track championship in
1987 . Hamilton began to be noticed within the NASCAR ranks after racing in a special 4-car "Superstar Showdown" at Nashville in
1988 against
Winston Cup drivers
Sterling Marlin ,
Darrell Waltrip , and
Bill Elliott .
Hamilton broke into the Winston Cup ranks in a very unusual way. He was asked to drive one of the "movie cars" for the
1990 film ''
Days Of Thunder '', qualifying fifth in a movie car at the 1989
AutoWorks 500 in Phoenix.
After a respectable top-10 finish in a car that was not designed for serious competition, Hamilton gained enough respect to compete full time on NASCAR's top circuit beginning in
1991 , during which season he won the coveted Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award.
After 12 years and four wins in Winston Cup (including a grueling caution-free win at
Talladega Superspeedway in
2001 ), and due partly to a shoulder injury suffered in a crash, Hamilton moved his focus to the Craftsman Truck Series full-time in
2003 .
Hamilton won the
2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship in a season which included a win at the
Nashville Superspeedway , which replaced the old
Nashville Speedway USA on the CTS schedule in 2001. He will take the rest of
2006 off due to
Cancer in his neck.
See Also: Bobby Hamilton, Jr.
Hamilton's son,
Bobby Hamilton, Jr. , is currently a driver in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Hamilton is also a very good friend of NASCAR driver
Casey Atwood , who is considered to be in like a god-son type relationship with Hamilton.
In June
2005 , Hamilton and Hamilton, Jr. expressed interest in purchasing Riverview Speedway, a small track in
Carthage, Tennessee that closed in May
2005 due to lack of interest among the public.
The popular NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series website entitled TruckSeries.com
{Link without Title} is an associate sponsor for all BHR teams.
On
March 17 ,
2006 , Hamilton announced that he had been diagnosed with
Neck Cancer . He took part in the Craftsman Truck Series race that night, before starting therapy the following Monday. In his absence, the #18 truck he normally drives will be taken over by Bobby Hamilton, Jr. Hamilton hopes to return for the final race of the season, at
Homestead-Miami Speedway .
