HAMILTON GAINS GROUND IN POINTS RACE

With a 16th place finish in Friday Night’s Emerson 250 NASCAR Busch Series race, Bobby Hamilton, Jr. moved within 102 points of fifth position in the season long point’s race. The driver of the McDonald’s Ford Fusion currently stands in sixth position, second among non Nextel Cup drivers.

On Friday Night, the Busch Series traveled to Richmond International Raceway, a legendary short track located on the state fairgrounds property. Hamilton was among the fastest cars in both practice sessions. An early qualifying order draw, combined with a baking hot racetrack, left Hamilton with the 31st starting spot.

From the drop of the green flag, the Tennessee native began to move forward in the running order. The No. 35 McDonald’s Ford was working well and the pit crew responded with solid pit stops. While the Nextel Cup drivers entered in the race took advantage of extra practice time, Hamilton was among the Busch Series leaders in the running order.

With time winding down, Hamilton hung tough and overcame slight damage to the right front of his car. The checkered flag waved with the McDonald’s Ford in 16th position. The finish allowed Hamilton to reposition himself for a run at fifth place in the point’s race. Nextel Cup driver David Ragan stands just 102 points ahead of Hamilton with seven races remaining in the 2007 Busch Series season.

“We had a super fast race car tonight, qualifying just made it tough on us,” Hamilton said. “We keep learning more information about these race cars, now we can go back, take this weekend off and apply some of the information to the final races of the year.”

Kyle Busch led nearly every lap of the race to claim the win over fellow Cup Series drivers Carl Edwards and Ryan Newman.

After a weekend off, the Busch Series heads to Dover International Speedway for racing action on Saturday September 15th.