HAMILTON DEBUTS SMITHFIELD FORD IN DAYTONA BEACH

Excitement was in the air for Team Rensi Motorsports as Bobby Hamilton, Jr. made his debut in the No. 25 Team Smithfield Ford Fusion on Saturday afternoon. The Tennessee native finished 22nd in the 120 lap 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 superspeedway.

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 drivers season into a tailspin with 34 races remaining.

With 20 laps to go, Hamilton had positioned himself for a charge to the front. After strategically steering clear of the accidents that historically have plagued this race, it was time to charge on lap 100. 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.

“We wanted to put the Team Smithfield Ford up front there at the end, but the car was just too tight on us,” Hamilton said. “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”

Tony Stewart dominated the event and recorded the win in the season opening race. Next week brings the California Speedway and a 300 mile race for the Nationwide Series. ESPN will cover the activities and the race will take the green flag at 7:30pm EST.

TOP FIVE FINISHERS
1 Tony Stewart
2 Kyle Busch
3 Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
4 Brian Vickers
5 Matt Kenseth

Ford Racing Daytona Notes:

BOBBY HAMILTON JR. - No. 25 Smithfield Ford Fusion - (qualified 38th) "We wanted to be in the back and we didn't even tape it up. The whole time we've been down here, we never made a qualifying run. We've just been in race trim. We'll come out of here [qualifying] whether we're 22nd or 35th, or wherever we end up that we're on schedule. We're on plan. You've got to be there at the end to get the points and the money. Having a wrecked race car in the middle of the race won't get you there. Even if I would have gotten the pole, we would have been the first ones to the back. This qualifying doesn't mean anything to us here and it doesn't have to. We'll suffer on pit road a bit, but this Daytona, you can draft by when you need to. We're right on plan where we want to be."

BOBBY HAMILTON JR. - No. 25 Smithfield Ford Fusion - (finished 22nd, qualified 38th) "We were tight, tight, tight there at the end and couldn't get going to get up there at the front near the end." DID YOU RUN LIKE YOU EXPECTED? "We kind of hung back there and wait for all the big stuff to happen and when it was time to go, we were just too tight to get up there."