"I always felt that I did the best possible job with what I had to work with," he explains. "It wasn't any secret that when we got to the track we'd been out-spent, and nowadays that translates to getting out-run. It wasn't anybody's fault; everybody I drove for put in all the resources they had available, but it just wasn't enough to keep up with the big-dollar operations. I never blamed anybody. It was just a fact of life."
It was amid those growing frustrations that Hamilton became interested in a new truck series launched by NASCAR in 1994 and sponsored by Craftsman.
"In the back of my mind I'd always thought that someday I might like to own my own race team, build my own cars, be my own boss," Hamilton says. "When the Truck Series came along, I realized that it could be my opportunity. The trucks offered a chance to build something from the ground up, as compared to trying to come in and compete with Cup teams that had been building for decades. Plus, the trucks didn't require a big budget, which fit me perfectly."
And so it was that Bobby Hamilton Racing was formed, in a little shop beside his home in the Nashville suburbs. Hamilton built and maintained the trucks and did the limited-schedule driving, sandwiching it in around his full-time Cup duties.
"It about ran me ragged," he says. "Between trying to get my truck team going and my Cup driving duties, I was busy every minute of every day. I was literally working my tail off."
Eventually, the increased workload of his growing truck operation, combined with the mounting frustrations of Cup racing, prompted Hamilton to make a decision: At the end of the 2002 season he decided to quit the Cup Series and devote himself to truck racing as a full-time owner/driver.
"I was enjoying the Truck Series more and more," he says. "It's more relaxed, away from all the pressures and demands of the Cup Series. The trucks run fewer races, so you get a little time to stop and catch your breath. Finally I asked myself, 'Why are you killing yourself like this?' I race because I enjoy it, and frankly, I wasn't enjoying the Cup stuff any more. When I sat down and added up all the reasons I could get out, compared to all the reasons I should stay in . . . well, it wasn't even close."
Still, Hamilton admits that walking away from Cup after 13 full seasons was not as easy as it sounds.
"Racing in the Cup Series was something I'd dreamed about ever since I was a little kid," he says. "But, hey, I made it. I raced against the best drivers in the world, and I won. I'd done something I'd dreamed about-something very few people ever get to do in their lives-and it was time to move on to something new.
"Besides," he adds, "it wasn't like I was leaving NASCAR. I was just switching to a different division. I'd still be at the tracks on weekends, still getting to hang around all my buddies and the people I've known for so many years. I'd still be racing; it would just be on Friday or Saturday instead of Sunday. Not having to give up racing entirely-that made the decision a whole lot easier."
The BenefactorIn addition to driving, Hamilton was also fielding trucks for an array of other drivers. Bobby Hamilton Racing became an integral part of the Dodge Diversity Program, and he fielded trucks driven by Bill Lester.
Later, a young racer from nearby Mt. Juliet, Chase Montgomery, joined BHR, as did Chad Chaffin, a former Fairgrounds champion.
"If you want to learn how to race, hang around Bobby Hamilton," Chaffin says. "He's the smartest man I know, from building trucks to setting them up for a particular track, to knowing what to do under every racing situation. I've gotten out of an ill-handling truck and seen Bobby climb in and immediately start shaving seconds off the lap time. I'd stand there watching and wondering to myself, How does he do it? He just has that knack, that talent. Working with Bobby has definitely made me a better racer."