From Nascaronline:

What's the best advice you ever received and who was it from?

Bobby Hamilton Jr.: I guess it'd have to be from my dad: just to be myself. It's easier to get people to like you for who you are than to find out later on you aren't that person. It was one of the things he always talked to me about in this line of sports. I'm not your typical really preppy-looking guy. I'm just me. You're going to see me at my restaurant like you see me here. I think that was the biggest thing. It keeps me at peace. If you like me the way I am, you'll like me for a long time, because I'm not going to change, on or off the racetrack.

What was your first car?

Hamilton: It was a Ford Tempo. It was brown, had tan interior. It had like 150,000 miles on it. My uncle was working at a transmission job and he had it down there. They were talking about getting rid of it for $100. I had $100 in my pocket, since I got paid that week. I was down there, washing cars, stuff like that. It was right when I was 16 or 17. That's when I bought my very first car.

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http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/features/08/28
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