"FORT WORTH, Texas – It really is tough to get past two primary conflicting threads leading into today’s Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. The 12 Nextel Cup races here have been won by 12 different drivers, but none is among the active drivers at Hendrick Motorsports, the sport’s hottest team."
"Considered together, it’s quite a remarkable thing. Since this 1.5-mile oval opened in 1997, only 38 drivers have won Cup races. Gordon has won 56 times, Johnson 26 and Kyle Busch four. Terry Labonte did win here in a Hendrick-owned Chevrolet in 1999, but he’s no longer driving. “It’s just a very, very tricky place to get the right combination of aerodynamics, horsepower, mechanical grip, and set-up and get comfortable as a driver with the speeds we carry here,” said Gordon, who will start from the pole today after qualifying was rained out on Friday. Gordon finished in the top five each year from 2001 to 2004 when the track had only one race per season, but his best finish since was a ninth last fall."
"Hendrick Motorsports will try today to become the first team since Petty Enterprises in 1971 to win five straight races. Johnson starts third, Busch fifth and Casey Mears 33rd. “The guys building the cars have just done a fantastic job finding a little bit in all these different areas,” said Gordon, who is leading the points despite having not won yet this season. “The cars are just so much more comfortable to drive and the speed comes is when that comfort is there. If there’s any time we've had a chance of a Hendrick car winning here or ourselves winning here, it's this year.”"
"Johnson hasn’t won here, but he hasn’t exactly smelled up the place, either. His worst Texas finish in seven tries is 11th and he’s had three top fives in the past four races. On the other hand, he’s led only three laps here in career."
Starting 28th, Hamilton clawed his way forward and gunned down Dale Jarrett and Ricky Craven in the final 22 laps for the win. He dashed across the line 0.941 seconds ahead of Jarrett.
Bobby Hamilton pulled into victory lane at the end of the AC Delco 400. Hamilton liked racing on October 27. The victory was the second of his career. His first Winston Cup win came exactly one year beffore at Phoenix, AZ., which was also the last win for Pontiac at the time.
Bobby Hamilton, said "It was real important for me to win a race. Not only for Richard but for the people that work on the cars. You have to know these people I'm talking about. They never give up. There's nobody that has any better looking equipment than they do. They're really proud of the stuff they do.
Everybody in this garage area is underpaid, except maybe a couple of crew chiefs and drivers. The only bonus they get out of racing is to see their car run up front and win races. Knowing I was going to leave Richard at the end of the year, when things go bad, everything falls apart. We worked real hard not to let that happen. I didn't want to be labeled as a driver that said, 'Heck I'm leaving. I don't care if if I win a race or not.' It was just real important to me to win a race for them people that work on the race cars."
That was Bobby he never lost his heart for the working man.
It must have been the date - October 27th - that sat well with Bobby Hamilton.
The race that day ran a day later than scheduled due to rain. It started with Bobby Labonte on the pole. Labonte looked like he had the field covered as he just drove away, building leads in the six-second range.
It was also a day where flaws in setups showed up quickly as in a short 50 laps the first of the weak went down a lap. This included Rusty Wallace, whose performance at that time was described as lackluster.
Bobby Hamilton, who started 28th on the field, just started picking his way to the front slowly using a combination of handling and pit strategy known as 'short pitting' - a process that brings a driver in a few laps earlier than the leaders. The strategy, more often used in road racing than oval racing, is that a few faster laps on fresh tires and less gas combined with killer pit stops because less fuel is added, gains you track position and therefore an edge on the competition. The move worked well for the Petty Enterprises team as they had worked themselves to the third spot by lap 100.
On lap 114 the caution came out when Jimmy Spencer blew a left front tire and popped the wall. Ricky Rudd got tangled up in Spencer's mess as his No. 23 shot back across the track and got the left front of Rudd's No. 10 Tide Ford. "I can't catch a break these days," was about all Rudd had to say of the incident.
Rusty Wallace, who was a lap down, started racing the leader when the green flew on lap 122. It was some awful exciting racing as Rusty Wallace and then leader Ricky Craven beat off each other for position. Wallace got his lap back for a short while but was unable to hold on as the leaders sailed on past him again.
It was during this time that Rick Mast, who had run well in Rockingham in the past and finished second to Dale Earnhardt in 1995, had worked his way up to third and was dicing with #### Trickle for the second spot. The excitement would come to an abrupt halt when the cam shaft in Trickle's Remington Ford broke. The team was credited with a disappointing 42nd place finish.
The No. 25 of Craven looked untouchable while it was in the lead from lap123 to 192. He, like Labonte before, checked out on the field with a solid six-second lead at the time. Craven handed the lead off to Jarrett when he brought the Budweiser Chevy to pit road for service.
The No. 25 of Ricky Craven looked untouchable.
Bobby Hamilton, who had made a short stop, would be shown in the lead after the cycle of pit stops and was awarded the Gatorade Front runner award for leading at the halfway point in the event.
It was the No. 99 of Jeff Burton that came and took the lead from Hamilton on lap 214. Burton looked tough, but Jarrett just kept nibbling away at the No. 99 and took the lead away from Burton on lap 235. Jarrett would hold the lead until the caution flew on lap 250 when Gary Bradberry spun up in turn four. The field dove for pit road.
It was a battle of the pit crews during the stop and the Rainbow Warriors pit crew for Jeff Gordon got the job done fastest and he rolled off the pit road inches ahead of Dale Jarrett. It was also during this pit stop that Jeff Burton got caught speeding on pit road and sent to the end of the longest line for the lap 259 restart.
Gordon was able to get some pad over Jarrett on the restart with the help of the lapped traffic. Gordon looked like he'd be okay - that was until lap 272 when the caution flew for - Jeff Burton. Burton, who was fighting his back to the front after the penalty just drove in too deep and it got away from him.
"It's hard," said Burton. "But when you wreck it's your fault no matter what. It's my fault. But the only reason I was back there was because of that penalty. I don't understand that. I looked at my tach, and my tach was where it was supposed to be. That's all I know." It's been almost ten more years, and we still don't have speedometers in NASCAR.
This time it was the Budweiser Chevrolet that took the field to green - followed by Hamilton, Dale Earnhardt and Martin. Gordon, who had to stop on pit road a second time for a loose end cap on the left rear axle, joined the field on the end of the lead lap in 17th place.
Craven took off and built a sizable lead over the field. The real racing was for the top-five as Martin and Jarrett started working their way towards the front of the pack. Their moving up cost Dale Earnhardt as he was shoved back and out of the top-five.
The racing continued on and the leaders started to make green flag stops around lap 332 in preparation for a run to the checkered flag.
They wouldn't need to make that long green run, which would have played into Jarrett's hands as he had a distance setup under him, as Greg Sacks stalled on the track bringing out the final of four cautions of the day on lap 367.
The leaders dove to the pits. Dale Jarrett led the field to the pits also led them off pit road when the Todd Parrott inspired crew pulled off a 18-second pit stop.
It looked like Dale Jarrett was on his way to his seventh win of the season. When the green flew on lap 371, Jarrett tried to check out but Craven would have none of that. Jarrett was the leader with 22 laps remaining. Ricky Craven was in second and Hamilton in third. Craven went around Jarrett. Hamilton passed Jarrett a lap later for second.
The advantage Craven had lasted an entire two laps - that's when Hamilton went sailing on by for the lead. Once there he never had to battle for the top spot again as all the racing that was happening for position was happening in his rearview mirror. Hamilton led the rest of the way.
Jarrett said, "Bobby and Ricky were a little better than us on the short runs. We were better on the long runs. When that yellow came out, I knew we were in trouble. Those guys were better on new tires."
The race saw a revived Hendrick Motorsports Team. Ricky Craven led the most laps in the race and finished third. Jeff Gordon was right behind him in fourth. The final member of the Hendrick Team, Terry Labonte, finished in seventh place.
#### Trickle, who had finished second on Saturday in the Busch Grand National race, celebrated his 56th birthday with a fifth place finish.
Jeff Gordon escaped disaster. He was forced to make a double pit stop on one of the yellow flags. An end cap came loose on his left rear hub, causing the second stop. Gordon fell to 14th (the last car on the lead lap). He fought his way back to a fourth place finish.
In the championship points race, Gordon increased his lead over second place Mark Martin. Entering the event, Gordon led Martin by 110 points. Gordon left leading Martin by 125. Gordon picked up five bonus points for leading the race. Martin was unable to lead. Dale Jarrett, who was third in the points was only able to gain ten points on Gordon. Gordon left needing to place 15th or better in each of his next two races to win his second Winston Cup Championship.
Before winning at Rockingham, Hamilton had signed with Morgan McClure Racing to replace Sterling Marlin in the No. 4 Kodak ride. The victory cost car owner Richard Petty more than he made. In a side bet, Petty bet Hamilton he would not win another race before he left the team. Hamilton won $89,150 for his victory. Petty's bet with Hamilton was $100,000.
Race results with finishing position, (starting position), driver:
1. (28) Bobby Hamilton 2. (2) Dale Jarrett 3. (9) Ricky Craven 4. (6) Jeff Gordon 5. (12) #### Trickle 6. (3) Mark Martin 7. (33) Terry Labonte 8. (26) Dale Earnhardt 9. (35) Sterling Marlin 10. (19) Joe Nemechek
NASCAR headed west the next weekend to run in Phoenix, AZ. The final race of the season was November 16th in Atlanta. At the end of 1997 Hamilton left Petty Racing Enterprises finishing 16th in points.
Most of the following is from the blog Unforgettable Bobby Hamilton
by Tom Higgins: That's Racin' Blogger
I was fortunate enough to cover stock car racing off and on--mostly on--from 1957 through 1996. That's 40 years, or half an expected lifetime. I can count on 10 fingers the races I remember most and never will forget, this old mind willing. High on the list is Bobby Hamilton's dramatic triumph in the 1996 Dura Lube 500 on Oct. 27 at Phoenix International Raceway in Arizona.
This race is especially significant to me for two reasons. First, due to illness, it's the last NASCAR event I ever covered. I took early retirement shortly afterward. More importantly, Hamilton's triumph returned Petty Enterprises to Victory Lane after an improbable absence of 13 years. Memories of Hamilton, and his grand accomplishment, came rushing back to mind because of the popular Tennessee driver's untimely death on Sunday. Hamilton was a victim of cancer at age 49.
Here's a sampling of how I wrote the story from Phoenix for the Oct. 28, 1996 edition of The Observer:
"It seemed like old times for the Petty Enterprises team on Sunday...Hamilton took the lead on the 283rd of the 312-laps in the 500-kilometer race and returned the storied No. 43 car made famous by Petty to Victory Lane. "It was the first win for the Petty-owned car since October of 1983 in the Miller 500 at Charlotte Motor Spedway with Petty at the wheel."
Petty won twice in '84, but he was driving a car owned my Hollywood music figure Mike Curb. It bore the No. 43, but it was not fielded by Petty Enterprises of little Level Cross, N.C. The second of those triumphs came in that Pepsi Firecracker 400 and that car now sits in a place of honor in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.
So to me, and most others, Bobby Hamilton's triumph REALLY marked the return of the REAL 43 to Victory Lane. This was not lost on Bobby.
"I can't believe it," he said in the press box after giving the new Grand Prix model its first victory and going through the ceremonies just off pit road. "Those last laps I thought I felt tires going down. I heard rattles and even thought the battery was shaking. "My mind was running wild the last lap. There were three cars smoking and and I was concerned they would put some oil on the track.
"I'm so happy for Richard and Dale Inman and Robbie Loomis and the other guys on the team. They've worked so hard and have gone a lot of years without a win. To be the first to do it in this Pontiac since Richard means a lot to me." Inman, Petty's cousin, was the team manager. Loomis was the crew chief.
Hamilton finished 1.23 seconds ahead of runnerup Mark Martin in a Ford.
"The boys did good today," said Petty, who was mobbed on pit road when the checkered flag fell. "I just sat and watched. Today, we had it all together. I thought Bobby had enough to take care of 'em there at the end, but you never know for sure."
Hamilton had tears in his blazing blue eyes in the press box as the interview ended. So did a lot of media members who admired the down-to-earth country boy Tennessean whose humbleness and sincerity and honesty affected everyone he met.
Beneath those ever-present dark glasses, I sensed King Richard's eyes were moist, too.
Tbfka#5 commented on Tom's blog.
Among the subplots to that race was that Robbie Loomis was entertaining an offer to work for RCR; he asked Ray Evernham about it (knowing Evernham would keep the offer out of the press) and Evernham said not to take the job, because "you may be only three years away from a championship with what you've built." Bobby Hamilton likewise reminded Loomis, "We need another year to finish what we started." Loomis agonized over whether to go to RCR, and finally decided to stay.
Hamilton, for his part, felt a mizture of liberation and bitterness because after that Phoenix win "there's this TV person....who asked a good friend of mine, someone he didn't know I knew, when Richard Petty was going to quit putting up with mediocrity. I'm waiting for that SOB, I've got his name burned into my head. You get so much pressure to perform and you hear so much stuff that when you finally do it, the #### everyone puts on you just ruins the first win for you."
"But all this must be suffered by those who profess the stern order of chivalry" Most Interesting Blog, June 16, 2008 and six other occasions. Lisa awarded him Best "breaking news" blogger March 31, 2008. Blog of The Day, Christmas Day, 2007. edhardiman wrote, "Falco's tribute to Rocket Richard reminds us all the stars of today stand on the shoulders of giants..." October 23, 2007. Three Golden Swirrly p00p Awards (Hockey, NASCAR and Use of Graphics), FlyingPig, July 18, 2007. 2007 Memorial Day Weekend Trifecta sponsored by williamwilman . Featured on WFORacingFans April, 2007. "Stylin'" award, Dusty, February 07. "One of ten new bloggers to watch" Dudski, January 2007.
![[ Bobby Hamilton ]](http://www.theautochannel.com/callahan/nascar/images/hamilton.jpg)
![[ Ricky
Craven ]](http://www.theautochannel.com/callahan/nascar/images/craven02.jpg)
![[ Jeff Gordon ]](http://www.theautochannel.com/callahan/nascar/images/gord97.jpg)
