Bobby Hamilton Dies At Age 49

Nice guy from all I've read.

 

Bobby Hamilton was the first driver to win in car #43 after Richard Petty retired. I was sorry when he left the team as he was a great asset to them. I am sorry to hear of his death.

 

very sad, my prayers go to his family.

 

Bobby was the 1991 Rookie of the Year, with his best season coming in 1996. He was a threat to win a few races that year, including the spring Rockingham race where he tangled with Dale Earnhardt coming out of turn 4. He finally did win at Phoenix in November 1996, the first for the #43 car since July 1984.

Bobby won the fall Rockingham race in 1997. A few days before the race, Richard Petty told him that even if he won at Rockingham, he still wouldn't be driving the #43 in 1998, then he went out and won the race. I still don't know why Richard fired him. In 1998, he drove the #4 car for Morgan-McClure and won the spring Martinsville race. He won his last race, in 2001, driving for Andy Petree.

Also, here's hoping for the best for Benny Parsons, who went into the ICU last week for complications due to his lung cancer.

 

I know this is really old, but Petty and Hamilton just had a giant miscommunication. Petty stated years later (and Hamilton too) that they both regretted that. Both thought the other wanted something else, when they both wanted the same thing. It's really sad, because I think stability is what Petty needed, and I really feel that Hamilton leaving is the reason Petty is where he's at today. I think Petty had a chance to get to that next level. Not necessarily with Hamilton leading the charge, but with Hamilton being up there.


I remember being at Winchester Speedway in 2001 when he won at Talladega. I spent 30 bucks to watch the Late Models run that day, and I was in the garage area the entire time watching Hamilton run up front and finally win. Amazing.
In the 1996 season, if I recall, Hamilton was like top 3 or 4 in laps led behind Jeff Gordon. He led a lot, and only had that one win to show for it. I remember how mad I was when Earnhardt wrecked him.

 

Earnhardt wrecked him? Earnhardt didn't so much as touch him coming out of turn 4.

 

Can't see you tube at work.

 

And Robinson, if you are talking about Rockingham, Earnhardt absolutey did wreck him. Just to refresh my memory, I pulled it up on my phone. He gets into his rear driverside as clear as the sun comes up each morning. It may not have been much, but he did make contact with him and run him up the track.

 

Wouldn't the bold imply that they made contact? If they didn't, would it be considered tangled? Are you contradicting yourself?

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1996-02-26/sports/9602260072_1_earnhardt-hamilton-loomis

Intentional or not, Earnhardt even said he hit him.

Now don't get me wrong...racing is racing. And of course you are going to be mad when your guy gets wrecked. I look back at it this much later and I kind of laugh. Same thing with the incident at Martinsville when Harvick punted Hamilton. It happens.

I just want it to be correct though, in what happened. Earnhardt did wreck him.

 

No, I'm not.

From the article you posted:

So, it comes down to whatever your word is and that's the final arbiter of what happened that day? Whatever, dude.

 

No, I just happen to be able to see that they did make contact, and that the only thing Earnhardt admitted was that it wasn't intentional (which I don't recall ever saying it was).

Not sure it can be much plainer than that.

If they didn't make contact, then I wouldn't say they "tangled". Those were your words, not mine.

 

And Robinson...maybe this is where we aren't on the same page.

Jimmie Johnson has wrecked Kurt Busch about a half dozen times in the last few years. Were they intentional? Maybe, maybe not. But even if they weren't, just because it wasn't intentional doesn't change the fact that Johnson still wrecked Busch.


Years of racing from Earnhardt, history repeats itself. He was a rough driver who made no qualms about moving someone out of the way. I honestly don't have a huge issue with that. Is that what he did that day at Rockingham? Not sure. Earnhardt said it wasn't on purpose.

But I choose to think that the best racer who ever lived could probably handle some bumps in turn 4 at a track he'd come to a lot. But even if that's not the case, they made contact, and it seems pretty clear, even to Earnhardt himself.

 

Praying for his family as NASCAR time coming up, he won't be around.:1_grouphug: