Kevin Hamlin

Nationwide Series

Kevin Hamlin is going to have to move his career as fast as he races his cars.  The 27 year old is a veteran in the developmental program.  With his fellow competitors, he is revired.  That perhaps might come into play later as the Ganassi stable is full of younger talent and may limit his track time.

The Washington native has the ability to race in the Busch Series but with the talent moving up into Cup, he is going to have to open some eyes, which he has the talent to do.

Expectations are high on Hamlin and expectations of strong performances are going to be premium but Hamlin knows how to get it done.  Just when, is the true question

Looking to 2007 with more hope and optimism than he has ever experienced in his racing career, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) development driver Kevin Hamlin is ready to get behind the wheel and do some serious racing with the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Busch Series team.  Although, he will only be running a handful of the Busch Series races, while sharing the driving duties with fellow teammate Juan Pablo Montoya, Hamlin is determined to make his mark and begin paving his own road to becoming a full-time regular in the world of NASCAR racing.

Much like fellow teammate David Stremme, both of Hamlin’s parents were racers, and as a result, Hamlin has been racing literally since he was born. Growing up in Snohomish, Wash., he spent many weekends watching his mom and dad compete before taking a stab at racing himself when he was at the tender age of three, racing three-wheelers on an indoor oval short track near his hometown.

When he was six years old Hamlin’s career took a serious turn when he made his first quarter midget start and won. The win prompted his father to put the brakes on his own racing to concentrate on developing his son’s talents. Although it was more than 20 years ago, Hamlin remembers that win well, recalling the last-lap pass he made for the lead coming out of turn four at Payne Field in Everett, Wash. 

The impressive beginning to his racing career however, was just that – the beginning.  Hamlin proceeded to accumulate eight regional quarter midget championships throughout Washington, Oregon and Idaho.  Although, he never had much financial backing, spending the weekends racing and sleeping out of his family’s van, he and his family worked hard and were competitive.  In 1992, Hamlin capped off a seven-year run in quarter midgets by earning a national championship victory. 

The Washington-native scored his last quarter midget win when he was 14-years old. Around that same time Hamlin’s father decided to start a late-model team to further the skills of his talented son, forgoing the normal progression for a racing career that typically consisted of quarter midgets to Legends and Street Stocks. It was a huge leap for such a young racer. 

The Hamlin family literally pulled a car out of the dumps to get it ready to race.  Though many would have looked at the car as an old junker, Hamlin looked at is as an opportunity to broaden his racing skills.  He was too young to legally race the late model when they initially purchased it, so he spent the next year focusing on what went on under the hood while his dad came out of retirement to race the car.  

Not willing to wait any longer, Hamlin climbed back in the driver’s seat when he turned 15.  He was still too young to race legally in Washington, but managed to get overlooked as a result of his desire and talent. In the first late model race he entered, Hamlin started and finished 12th. The following year, Hamlin’s family pulled enough money together to secure better equipment, and although he didn’t win any races that year, he did grab the rookie of the year title at Evergreen Speedway.

A multi-sport athlete, Hamlin decided to hang up his track shoes, football jersey and basketball shorts to dedicate more time to the garage and race track. As a result, his senior year of high school revolved around racing with a schedule that included school during the day and work in the afternoon that led to long nights in the garage.  Every free minute and cent was dedicated to racing.  With additional financial support from his best-friend’s dad, Donnie Scriver, who owned a company called Bowman’s Electro Painting, Hamlin won the first two NASCAR Weekly Series races he entered that year and went on to claim the 1997 mid-season championship.  Although he missed two races after being grounded by his father, Hamlin still finished fourth in the overall NASCAR Weekly Series standings. 

In 1998, with Scriver’s support, Hamlin started competing in the NASCAR Northwest Series – a move that would ultimately catapult his career into the national spotlight.  Greater challenges loomed with more expenses and a more labor-intensive schedule. Despite the challenges, Hamlin and company scored a 10th-place finish at the second ESPN Winter Heat event they entered. The team raced the full season in 1999, scoring their first win at the Douglas County Fairgrounds that June. The magnitude of the win was felt immediately due to the morale boost for the team and the fact that Hamlin set a new record for being the youngest winner ever in the Northwest NASCAR Series. 

Hamlin and the team started making a name for themselves after competing in and finishing the 2000 season fifth in the final point standings. Sponsors started taking notice, resulting in more financial support that allowed the team to afford new cars and engines – a first in Hamlin’s young career. The financial backing and experience resulted in a championship in 2001. Hamlin scored four wins in route to the title that made the then 21-year-old the youngest champion in the Northwest Series history. 

Hamlin backed up the 2001 title with a second consecutive championship in 2002, recording five wins and setting a record for the most consecutive laps led.

Hamlin realized that if he truly wanted to compete in one of NASCAR’s top-three touring series, he would have to go east. As a result, the 23-year old married his high school sweetheart, and in 2004 the newlyweds moved to North Carolina.  Initially, Hamlin thought he had a NASCAR Craftsman Truck ride waiting on him, but as they were driving across country just coming into Iowa Hamlin received a call that the truck deal had fallen apart. Despite the setback he and his wife proceeded with the move with his sites set on a racing career. To make due while working on his racing career, Hamlin worked a variety of jobs, which included driving fans around the race track for the Richard Petty Driving experience and building wheel chairs with his wife.

In 2005, a good friend and fellow driver Brendan Gaughan arranged for Hamlin to meet with NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series driver Kenny Schrader. The meeting landed Hamlin behind the wheel of Shrader’s ARCA car for two races that resulted in a fourth-place finish at Kentucky in April and an eighth-place finish at Michigan in June.

Again, Gaughan came through to hook Hamlin up with Green Light Racing to run the No. 07 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series truck at Kansas in July.  While it was a surreal opportunity for the then 26-year old, Hamlin was determined to run well for his team and he did so by putting forth a good, clean effort that resulted in a 23rd-place finish in his truck series debut.  

Having made initial contact with CGRFS talent scout, Lorin Ranier, earlier in 2005, Hamlin kept in touch, keeping Ranier abreast of his growing resume and track experience. The persistence paid off when Ranier called Hamlin asking him to stop by the race shop. Leaving work immediately, Hamlin met Ranier and the next day he was asked to drive a car for the Biagi Race Team in the NASCAR Busch Series race at Pike’s Peak International Raceway.  Hamlin had less than a week to prepare for his NASCAR Busch Series debut, having to borrow one of Gaughan’s seats.  The first Busch run proved to be successful as he led a total of five laps on the way to a 17th-place finish.  Hamlin was asked to drive the following week at Gateway International Raceway where he qualified 10th for the event.  Hamlin’s performance in those two events earned him the driving job for the Biagi Race team for the remainder of the season and sealed his deal to become part of the CGRFS driver development program.

Hamlin started 2006 with an 11th-place finish for Bobby Hamilton Racing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season-opener at Daytona International Speedway.  He then returned to Daytona in July to drive one more time for Biagi in the No. 4 Dodge.  He was running in fifth place, banking on at least a top-10 finish when an empty gas tank turned his night upside down and ended it with a 27th-place finish.

At CGRFS, Hamlin took on an active role providing pre-race driver support for the No. 41 CGRFS Busch Series entry as the team’s full-time driver Reed Sorenson took on a double-duty schedule, competing in both the NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series’.  Hamlin helped the team get the car dialed in for Sorenson to qualify and race during the non-companion event weekends, when the Busch and NEXTEL Cup Series’ competed at different venues.  In a total of five race weekends that Hamlin helped with the No. 41 Busch team’s efforts, they scored two top-five and three top-10 finishes that were also highlighted by one top-five and three top-10 starts.  One of the top-10 starts was a ninth-place qualifying effort by Hamlin at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in July that was later topped off with a fourth-place finish by Sorenson and team.   

It was toward the end of the 2006 season, when Hamlin learned he would get to share the driving duties of the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Busch Series Dodge with Juan Pablo Montoya in 2007.  

Now, as he looks at the present opportunity he realizes how lucky he is to be climbing into the kind of equipment he will be racing this season.  The April race weekend at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway will kick off his eight-race schedule and it can’t get here soon enough for the 27-year old.  He will seize the moment and do the best he can, just like he has always done all for one reason—for the love of racing.