SCR: With that mechanical knowledge, do you think you have an advantage over those who don't know the difference between a speed bump and bumpsteer?Hamilton: Sometimes you can be your own worst enemy. What I have learned is that if you have a smart crew chief, let him make all the calls. When you know something is wrong, then you can speak up. A mechanically inclined driver can over-engineer himself at times. I only speak up if I know something is wrong. If I'm not sure, I don't put my two cents in.
SCR: Your first Winston Cup start was in 1989 in Phoenix in a car used for the film "Days of Thunder." You qualified fifth and were running in the Top 10 when NASCAR asked you to retire from the race.Hamilton: The car was actually owned by Rick Hendrick, but was shown as owned by Paramount Pictures. Stories escalate as the years go. We actually had a motor problem. They were monitoring all the movie cars and knew we were having a motor problem. Rusty (Wallace) had already gotten spun out by a rookie and it could have cost him the championship. We elected, along with NASCAR, to park. We led the race. We were the best qualifying Hendrick car. There was nothing else to do. I got a lot of exposure. To play it safe was to park the car.
SCR: Was there actual footage of that race in the movie "Days of Thunder?"Hamilton: Yeah. The movie shows me in the No. 51 Exxon car at Phoenix running. That is actual footage of it. I also drove the No. 51 Mello Yello car at Daytona.
SCR: From there your career took off. You have won a race in four out of six seasons and driven for names like Petty, Sabates, McClure, and Petree. How important is it to you to have given Petree his first win, or the Pettys their first win since 1983?Hamilton: Richard Petty is probably the best thing that ever happened to me as a driver. The whole Petty family-Linda, all the kids-they are just great people. To go to Victory Lane for them, to see Richard get emotionally choked up on pit road, to know that we had to send after Dale (Inman) in the bathroom because he was real emotional, seeing Linda's face. Kyle stuck his head in the window after the race. He was shaking my hand and had tears in his eyes. You just never would have dreamed of how much it meant to them, seeing the No. 43 back in Victory Lane. That is a moment I'll cherish for a long time.
SCR: What about Andy Petree jumping on your car last year when you won Talladega?Hamilton: I told him it reminded me of someone falling out of an airplane landing on the hood. Just all of the people I have worked with, there has been something special there.
SCR: How much of what you put out on the track is for you and how much of it is for your team?Hamilton: You know, I have never looked at it like that. I am more concerned about performing well for my race team. When I run bad, I feel bad for my race team, not for myself. Drivers have good days and bad days. Those guys are the ones who put all the work in it. As far as what you get paid to do this, nobody gets paid enough. The drivers and owners are the only ones who make any money. The only bonus the team gets out of it is seeing their equipment run good.
SCR: You have four victories on four different types of tracks. Your win at Talladega rid you of the "flat-track racer" title. You seem to be proficient on any type of racing surface, but what is your favorite track?Hamilton: It is easier to ask my least favorite. I don't like the cookie-cutter racetracks-the one groove tracks like Kansas and Chicago. All these new tracks will become multiple groove racetracks in two or three years. I just have a problem when you have to pass a guy on the bottom and he is running on the bottom. You can't do anything because you are stuck in traffic. I like road courses. I almost won a road course last year when I finished second to Jeff Gordon at Sears Point. I love restrictor plate racing. Heck, I just enjoy what I do.