A Night at the Fights, a Day at the Races for Hamilton Jr.

With the NASCAR Busch Series visiting Montreal, Canada for the first time ever, Bobby Hamilton, Jr. had the opportunity to take in a few sights along with racing in the NAPA 200.  After two days of practice on the Circuit Gilles Villenueve, Hamilton and other members of the Team Rensi Motorsports organization took in one of Canada’s favorite pastimes, boxing.  As special guests of ESPN, the group sat ringside for Friday Night Fights with ESPN at the Centre Pierre Charboneau.  Hamilton chatted live on air with ESPN announcers Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas during the main event.

The next morning, Hamilton raced in front of 80,000 fans on the difficult road course.  After starting in the 34th position, Hamilton navigated his way through 200 miles of road racing.  The field of racers was dominated by road racing experts and Nextel Cup drivers to no ones surpise. Hamilton kept his focus on taking care of his equipment and more importantly his brakes.  His number one goal was to see the checkered flag from the race track as opposed to landing in the garage with car issues.  

Hamilton accomplished his goal and finished in the 24th position.  He remained in sixth position in the NASCAR Busch Series Point’s Championship and will take the same McDonald’s car to this weekend’s race at Watkins Glen International, another road course.

“We knew this would be a tough race, so we kept our focus on taking care of the McDonald’s Ford and finishing the race,” Hamilton said.  “With one more road race next week, it was important to gain experience and protect our points standing. Away from the race track, we had an awesome time at the Boxing match with ESPN.”

In a finish that left most everyone shaking their heads, Kevin Harvick claimed the lead after Robby Gordon was black flagged by NASCAR.  Busch Series regular, Marcose Ambrose was in position for the win following the black flag to Gordon, but he was spun by Gordon and lost the lead, allowing Cup regular Harvick to win another race.

The Busch Series will race at Watkins Glen on Saturday, check your local listings for broadcast times in your area.