Jeff Hammond (NASCAR)

For the Australian cricketer, see Jeff Hammond (cricketer); for the American pornographic actor, see Jeff Hammond (porn star).

Jeff Hammond (center) discusses pit road safety with U.S. Marines, courtesy of U.S. Marines

Jeff Hammond (born on September 9, 1956), is a NASCAR personality. Currently, he is a commentator for NASCAR's coverage on FOX Sports, as well as a partial owner of Red Horse Racing. He is also referred to as Hollywood Hammond by friend and former teammate Darrell Waltrip. He is an alumnus of East Carolina University.

Racing Career

Hammond's NASCAR career began in 1974 as a tire changer for Walter Ballard, but soon moved to the jackman position, where he gained as one of the best in the business, and served on the crew during all three of Cale Yarborough's championship seasons. In 1982, Hammond was promoted to the crew chief position at Junior Johnson Motorsports for Darrell Waltrip, and the chemistry was instant, with Waltrip winning his second consecutive championship. Hammond and Waltrip became the top driver-crew chief combination in NASCAR, winning many races during the eighties including the 1985 Winston Cup championship. Hammond followed Waltrip to Hendrick Motorsports, where they won the 1989 Daytona 500.

In 1991, Waltrip and Hammond formed Darrell Waltrip Motorsports, where the combination clicked again, but in mid-1992, Hammond left after a win at Pocono Raceway when car owner Felix Sabates named him to work with Kenny Wallace for the 1993 season. Hammond teamed up again with Waltrip in 1997, but the two were unable to recapture the magic of the '80's. In 1998, Hammond joined Roush Racing as the crew chief for Chad Little. The combination was an immediate success. Despite failing to qualify for the spring race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Little finished second at the Texas 500, and had a career high 15th place in the championship standings. Hammond stayed at Roush Racing until the end of the 2000 season, including a stint where he was crew chief for the first six races for Kurt Busch, before leaving after he was hired to work at Fox Sports.

Hammond has worked with four NASCAR champions in his career -- Cale Yarborough (a mechanic), Darrell Waltrip (a crew chief for two of the three), Terry Labonte (1987 for a few races), and Kurt Busch (2000 in his first races).

TV Broadcasting

In 2001, Hammond and Waltrip were reunited once again, this time as broadcasters for FOX Sports coverage of NASCAR.

When the series moved to Rockingham, NC, for the second race of the season, Fox unveiled a new mobile studio for NASCAR pre-race broadcasts to be used at venues where no permanent on-site studio was available. With Hammond's nickname from the past ("Hollywood"), Waltrip remarked "There's Hollywood Hammond inside the Hollywood Hotel," and the nickname stuck with the broadcast studio where he and Chris Myers broadcast the pre-race shows. He has also donned the "Sparky the Spark Plug" outfit at Texas Motor Speedway races. In 2005, he became an owner of Red Horse Racing's Craftsman Truck program, where they have won two races.

Hammond has also broadcasted wrestling events for TNA, where during the federation's time where it was broadcast on Fox Sports Net, Hammond hosted an interview segment known as the "Six Points of Impact!" He has also wrestled in TNA.

Hammond's position in the booth is unique. On selected qualifying shows, he will call qualifying from the broadcast booth. On selected qualifying events, he will report from pit road. During the race, he is positioned in the studio but will frequenly exit the studio to demonstrate from the cutaway car, and during pit stops will analyse pit stops. Also, because of the long nature of the races, he and Chris Myers will recap the race while there is a break with the main booth.

Online Column

Hammond contributes a regular online column on foxsports.com where fans can write in and he answers one question every column.

External links