Speaking of Kansas: “I love it. What I loved about the race two years ago was that being the old guy I am it made me feel pretty good as hot as it was there to get out and walk down pit road without any issues.  All the other drivers were laying out with oxygen plugged up to their face and I was drinking a good cold Coca-Cola and wanting somebody to go to the concession stand and get me a cheeseburger. I was feeling pretty good about that. I love that kind of race track. It is very, very fast. It’s come into its own now. It’s a two sometimes three- groove race track, especially for the Craftsman trucks. It’s just fun to go to. I can remember clearly after Carl (Edwards) and Dennis (Setzer) had that wreck on the first lap, I said ‘His truck is low.’ And sure enough, after the race last year, they said it was low because of the wreck they had. It was pretty low in the front. But we still gave him a run for his money, so we’re pretty excited about going back there.”

Youth Movement: “Youth is a wonderful thing. Youth is very demanding at times to an older group. I think that everybody knew that was going to happen coming in. I’m really proud that NASCAR took their stand over the deal that previously happened with the drug issue. I hate that it happened to the person it happened to, that’s a great talent there. I just wish more young people would look at the big picture and see what they have in the palm of their hand instead of what they have hid under the seat of their car. It’s just very, very rewarding to make it that far in the business we are in and to step out of the box a little bit just to have a little fun. We’ve always worried about the young group coming along, that we might bring a different group of people in with that. It’s a great fan base, and we’ve brought a younger generation in for a fan base. You can see it they are a very race-oriented fan base, even though they are teenagers. You can just see a different trend in the sport. It’s been good for it as long as they keep it under control. We’ve got rock groups involved now where it used to be country music oriented. We also have rap groups involved now. NASCAR is very diversified when it comes to different fan bases, and that’s what we need. I’m just pretty happy that NASCAR is working real hard to keep (problems) under wraps like it needs to be.”

Notes:
• The Tennessee native will be racing Slim Shady in Kansas this weekend.
• Last year Hamilton finished second at Kansas Speedway after leading the most laps.   

Success: “I firmly believe in people bringing you success. This is not a political move to make my people read stuff about me and pump them up. I don’t do that. I think I am an average race car driver. I have been fortunate to win in all three Series, and there aren’t but 13 of us who have done that. But I don’t think I’m the greatest race car driver. I think I have out run the greatest at one time or another, but not much. That’s why I’m a realist. I think it is all about the people. I’ve had very, very good sponsorships here, and very good financial backing and then turned around and had a couple of the worst years the company has ever had. I’ve had minimal sponsorship the last couple of years and have been in championship form, and that has to revolve back to your people.”