October 1, 2003

Hamilton Driving Scarface in South Boston

No Happy Hour: “I think the idea of not having a happy hour is great, especially when we get a morning practice session. We don’t put a lot of emphasis on our qualifying setup anyway, so it is no big deal for our team. We go to the race track setup in race trim and change out of that only at the very end of the morning practice session that is if we get enough time. It doesn’t matter to me where we start; I just care where we race. Some teams really push for the Pole starting spot and if that is their cup of tea, then so be it. I would rather see my teams qualify dead last and race up front the whole time instead of getting the pole and dropping back as soon as the race starts. It won’t really matter anyway because none of the teams are getting a happy hour. We did this already this year and ended up racing pretty well.”

Busch Series Laps: “I have something like four starts at South Boston in a Busch car. One of those was a top-five finish and the two others were in the top 10. I like the track, but then again I love racing on short tracks. It’s a fun race, and one that drivers must stay on their toes the whole race. It’s smaller than Bristol, and that race proved to have a lot of cautions in it. I expect to see the same thing here. The Craftsman Truck Series has only raced there for the past two years, so we all should be able to catch up pretty fast. It’s been a while for me since I’ve been here but hopefully my experience on short tracks will help me get in the groove quick. In all of the short track races we’ve had this year I’ve had a good truck. I want this one to be a win, not just a good finish.”

Young Guns: “Last year the media really played up the whole young gun deal. It got really old to even listen to. This year, they do it some in the Cup Series, but not as much. In the Truck Series we have several young guns who I feel like will be a great feeder into Winston Cup one day. We’ve got people like Carl Edwards, Jon Wood or Brendan Gaughan who will run well once they get some Cup experience under their belt. I think they will be shocked at first, but then again we all were the first time we strapped into a Winston Cup car and started the race. It’s intimidating which makes it hard to get comfortable, but after some time behind the wheel it’s just like everything else we do.”

Notes:

· This weekend’s truck is Scarface. In eight starts this year in this particular truck, Hamilton has finished in the top-eight positions four times.

Music Calms Me: “In this fast paced lifestyle that all racers live, we have to find ways to calm us. I know some of the drivers get on their boats, some go on trips and some go out with their friends. My way to relax is through music. I like to listen to the background sounds, the different voice pitches that singers have in each song. I honestly think in my next life I would like to either write or compose music for songs. Maybe it’s where I am from and hearing all the things I do, but I cannot help it when I listen to a song to pick out the things most people don’t hear. It drives people crazy to ride in the car with me because I am switching the channels constantly. My wife can’t stand to watch TV with me because I never leave it on the same channel.”

NEXT EVENT: The John Boy and Billy Craftsman Truck 250 at South Boston Speedway in South Boston, Virginia on October 4, 2003. The event will be televised live on SPEED Channel at 4:30 PM Eastern Time and also live on MRN radio at 4:30 PM Eastern Time.