First Cup Efforts: “We have been working on some chassis stuff for my trucks and ended up building a cup car. We tested it in Indy and ran pretty fast with it.  When I got it back home, I had the guys tear it down to see why we were so fast.  It surprised me, but made me aware that my teams can compete.  It’s our first in-house car. We built it ourselves; we bought the chassis from PPI (Motorsports) and then put on our front and rear clips.  We have a very good truck organization, but I’m smart enough to know that experience is what counts, and running a Cup team week in and week out is huge. We know we’re against all odds going to Indy for the race. We’d like to run good but we don’t want to get in the way of the guys running for the Chase. But, we buy our pit passes just like they do so we’re going to have some fun if we make it.”

IRP: “I say that IRP is not one of my better tracks, but I’ve finished third there the past two years.  We ended up with good finishes out of those races, but it’s just one of those places you have to stay out of trouble.  Track position means everything and so qualifying up front will be one of the things we focus on this weekend.  I like the track because it is similar to one of those places where most of us cut our teeth on.  I know the fans always get a good show there, so we hope they do again this year.”

Notes:

• Hamilton raced in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series from 1989-2002 winning four races and finishing a career high of ninth in points in 1996.
• In 2003 Hamilton moved to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series finishing sixth his first full season.
• In only his second year in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Hamilton went on to win the championship.
• The Tennessee native will be racing Mini Me in Indianapolis Raceway Park.
• In 2003 Hamilton finished third at IRP, in 2004 he duplicated those efforts on the last lap.
• At Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Hamilton will be debuting a BHR chassis named Hillbilly that he bought from PPI Motorsports and rebuilt to be the first in house BHR Dodge Nextel Cup Car.

Dirt Racing at Pevely: “I’m pretty excited about running the dirt race with all these guys at Pevely on Wednesday.  I miss seeing them all the time and look forward to spending a fun night away from the normal track hype.  I ran a dirt race a couple of weeks ago in Memphis and told Schrader that was going to be my new pastime.  It was a lot of fun and I was glad I got some practice in before I went to Pevely with all these great dirt track racers.  I’m not the best at it, but we’ll have fun with it.”

Joining Schrader for the event are several NASCAR Series competitors including fan-favorite Dale Earnhardt, Jr, who will serve as the flag man for the celebrity shootout. Kyle Petty, Carl Edwards, Casey Mears and Dave Blaney, Martin Truex, Jr., Kenny Wallace, and Jimmy Spencer will all be on hand.  The green flag falls at 7:30 p.m. on the celebrity filled 10-lap dirt-Modified shootout.