Idaho Racing News

Davey Hamilton proved something to himself by coming back from serious leg injuries suffered six years earlier in a crash at Texas to finish ninth in the 2007 Indianapolis 500.This year, Hamilton is in the 33-car field again; not to prove a point but to win."I came in here last year and this year first of all to have fun," said Hamilton, driver of the No. 22Hewlett-Packard/KR Vision Racing car who qualified with a four-lap average speed of 222.017 mphon Third Day Qualifying. "It's the biggest race in the world. I'm here because I want to do well and Iwant to try to win this race."I'm a realist as well as when you are up against the guys in these cars week-in and week-out it'shard to compete against these guys.

But it can be done. If we play the race smart and right we canget a great finish, another top 10 and I'll leave here with a big smile on my face again."The short track driver from Boise, Idaho, has even bigger plans on the horizon. He wants to bring theHewlett-Packard sponsorship to the IndyCar Series and be part of a full-time team.

"I don't have to have the name as team owner but I want to be involved with the team, whether it is asa sponsor, team manager, ownership or any of the above," Hamilton said. "I represent Hewlett-Packard year round and I'm trying to put together a package that would bring them into a bigger rolein the series for all the races."I don't have enough horsepower on my own to have a team so I have gone to Tony and LauraGeorge, and also Kingdom Racing, which is on my car now and would like to have a team as well.

If Ican help a team out and be involved with a team full time, that's what I want to do."Hamilton said the TEAM (Team Enhancement and Allocation Matrix) program that was introduced bythe IndyCar Series for the 2008 season makes it more feasible to start a team. It guarantees $1.2million per car for its entry in every IndyCar Series race."You have solid dollars that you know you are going to make at the end of the year," Hamilton said."You know what the bills are to Honda and Firestone. It gets narrowed down to have your budgetmuch safer. It gives you a baseline for the season."Hamilton is in the beginning stages of his search for a team and is willing to move back toIndianapolis to make it happen.

"It's a great opportunity and a great time," he said. "I want to be involved in this sport for the rest of my life. As much fun as I'm having, as much as I think I can win this race, I need to look at my future and my family's future and go from there."Hamilton was one of the original drivers in the Indy Racing League in 1996 and believes there are greater things ahead with American open-wheel racing unification under the IndyCar Series banner."I'm very happy that this day has come," Hamilton said. "Did I think it was going to happen? Probablynot. They were apart for so long. When I first came (to Indy) in 1995, it was tough. Roger Penske didn't make this race that year. All the excitement is back. You know the best in the world are here. All the best teams and sponsors and it's going to grow from here."But am I happy the split happened? Yeah, I probably am, because it gave me an opportunity to be here on a full-time basis. When I was here in 1995, that was a one-off Indy program with Ron Hemelgarn as well. To hire a short-track Idaho hillbilly, that just wasn't going to happen. With TonyGeorge doing the oval series, I as a driver was more attractive to some of the owners to run ovalsand that gave me the opportunity."Without the split, I'd probably be a weather guy. Who knows what would have happened."