Full Throttle

Drive for Diversity member Kristin Bumbera will drive for Hamilton Racing during the 2009 season. Bumbera and team owner Bobby Hamilton Jr. will team up for a full season of competition in the NASCAR Camping World East Series.

This will be Bumbera’s first full season in the Camping World Series having run a limited schedule last season in the western division of this NASCAR regional racing series. In just her first two appearances Bumbera turned many heads in Texas and California with 11th and 14th place finishes.

Kristin will work with veteran crew chief, Danny Gill, an opportunity that Bumbera is looking forward to. Gill has lead many successful teams to victory lane with drivers such as Bobby Hamilton and Dennis Setzer.

“NASCAR’s new “no-testing” rule has really set us back and handicapped us right off the bat this year. We were looking forward to testing at a few of the tracks ahead of time. But I’m always up to a challenge so we’ll give it our best and make the most of every practice session they give us.” Bumbera said with confidence.

The 21 year-old drove – and won – this past season for Golden State Racing at All American Speedway in Roseville Ca. Finishing seventh in the final track standings, Bumbera also set the late-model track record for the one-third-mile oval.

Although Bumbera has had some experience at ThunderHill Raceway over the past few years it is not her home track as some might think. She placed 2nd in points in 2006 racing in the Pro Late Model Division at THR with 2 top 5’s and 2 top 10’s. This same year she placed 4th in the ASA Pro Late Model Division at Houston Motorsports Park (HMP) with 2 wins, 4 top 5’s, 10 top 10’s and became the first female to win a late model race in Texas.

Things only got better in 2007 as she finished 2nd in points in the ASA Pro Late Models at HMP, lead a class of 37 men in the championship for 2 ½ months, had 5 top 5’s, 11 top 10’s, was honored with the Most Improved Driver Award, and became the first female to lead any type of championship in Texas. This while simultaneously competing in the ASA Pro Stock Division at HMP for a partial season finishing 4th in points and bringing home 3 wins, 9 top 5’s and 11 top 10’s.