PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. -- Bobby Hamilton Jr.'s visit to a Marine boot camp was anything but a friendly three-day tour. Any illusions he had about the trip were quickly -- and loudly -- shattered.

"GET OFF MY BUS, AND DON'T KILL YOURSELF DOING IT," Sgt. Michael Jensen, a Marine drill instructor, screamed at the NASCAR Busch Series driver and his Team Rensi crew.

	Bobby Hamilton Jr., left, simulates firing an M-16 rifle during a mock ambush at the Parris Island Marine Training Base.

"I think I just met Satan," said Hamilton, the 24-year-old son of Winston Cup driver Bobby Hamilton. "It took a long time to get over that."

Hamilton Jr.'s No. 25 car will carry the Marine emblem this season. So owner Ed Rensi wanted his group to see leatherneck training up close -- partly to understand what the service stands for and partly to feel the "Semper Fi" spirit of companionship.

"There's a larger understanding that we're not out just racing for a living," Rensi said outside the base's rifle range. "We've got a larger responsibility" with the Marine emblem.

About 25 members of the three Marine-sponsored racing teams got the "Full Metal Jacket" treatment, from firing M-16s to eating field food to running drills on the grueling training course. Former NBA great and NHRA drag racer Larry Nance and Indy Racing League owner Joe Trucelli were also on the trip earlier this month.

"They wanted to see Marine training, they're going to see Marine training," said Master Sgt. Ronald Turner, public affairs chief based in Quantico, Va.

After the group scrambled off the bus, they were marched in formation to their living quarters. "It was interesting," Turner said.

The first day, the racing teams ate with recruits and learned the service's history and philosophy.

The next day came a full schedule of Marine life.

There was martial arts combat training, a trip to the remedial facility where Marine recruits not up to standards are turned into top-notch boots and a session at the base's rifle simulator.

The teams also visited the course where recruits take part in "The Crucible," the brutal 54-hour session designed to simulate combat conditions and foster teamwork.

A lot of Hamilton's Busch rivals are already turning laps for the 2002 season, which starts Feb. 17 at Daytona International Speedway. But Hamilton believed it was just as important for his gang to serve for a while with "The Few, The Proud, The Marines."

"Being here, every guy sees what it takes to be a team," Hamilton said. "That's going to help us because these guys don't do nothing without each other. That's what a race team has to be about, too."

Turner says the Marines' racing affiliation has been a boon to the service. Hamilton's show car will attend recruiting functions at high schools and fairs at least once a week.

"It's been one of our most popular programs that people want to talk about," Turner said.

Hamilton showed his mettle at times. He hit 28 targets in 56 shots during a simulated ambush with his Marine unit backed on a hill. "Did you see Rambo firing some shots over there?" one of the Marine marksmen instructors said.

Hamilton, who said he has an M-16 rifle that he often shoots at cans, received a primary marksmen's jacket when he left.

The group was given ready-to-eat food packs, ranging from beef enchiladas and jambalaya to pasta with alfredo sauce, and were taught how to heat them up in the field with canteen water.

The highlight was "The Crucible," which Col. Patrick Donahue, assistant chief of staff for operations and training, says is where "you know you're a Marine and you've got to work together as a team to get things done."

Hamilton and Nance worked at an obstacle called "Noonan's Casualty Evacuation." Makeshift stretchers were formed from a blanket and two poles. Nance and others carried Hamilton, playing a wounded Marine, about a half-mile from the mock helicopter.

There were plenty of times during the visit when Hamilton's and Nance's celebrity showed through. Both were asked to sign posters and tickets, and they posed for pictures with Marines at nearly every stop.

Nance, the ex-Clemson star who played in the NBA with Cleveland and Phoenix before his Pro-Stock dragster career, said the experience at the boot camp was "very intimidating."

"As an athlete, you've got to be mentally tough, but nothing like what these people go through," he said.

Tony Liberati, crew chief for the No. 92 Busch car driven this year by Andy Houston, is an ex-Marine who left the recruiting depot upon graduation 20 years ago.

"I never expected I'd come back," he said.

But when he learned of Team Rensi's trip, Liberati wanted to return.

Liberati says he runs his team like a military operation and sometimes, in a neighborly way, pokes his nose in Team Rensi's business.

"If their shirts are untucked, I'll tell them, 'You've got my eagle, globe and anchor on your car. You'd better make me proud,"' he said.