Pete Wright's achieved multiple hopes and dreams in nearly 40 years in Cup garages across the country, but he's especially cherishing every moment spent in the 2007 season, working with Mark Martin on Dale Earnhardt Incorporated's No. 01 Chevrolets.

When Wright celebrates his 54th birthday on Oct. 21, it'll be a time to reflect on a career toiling with some of the biggest names in the sport -- on both sides of the pit wall.

Along with working with Martin, Wright was a member of Terry Labonte's first championship team in 1984 and was a crew chief for Darrell Waltrip. He's also worked with some of the most noted owners, mechanics and engine builders in the sport's history.

Wright was in the midst of a lengthy tenure with Ginn Racing, the former MBV and MB2 Motorsports, when owner Bobby Ginn formed a merger with DEI. Working with Martin has been the highlight of his recent career, Wright says.

Q: Pete, was there ever a time when you didn't see yourself doing this -- working in Cup racing -- as a career?

Wright: Yeah, there was a time, back in the mid-'70s, when I decided I would try something new, during the winter -- the off-season. I wanted to see if [racing] was what I really wanted to do.

I went to work at a Winn-Dixie, where I had to wear a tie, and say "yes, ma'am" and "no, sir." It lasted four months. About the time Daytona came rolling around, I said "that's it, I tried it and I can't do it."

I drove a dump truck a little bit, again, during the off-season -- which I did, so I wouldn't miss anything if I decided I wanted to go back [to racing]. That would have been all right -- but it wasn't too much fun. And some of those cold days, well, I didn't like that.

Q: When you talk about an "off-season" back in the 1970s, or even the 1980s; how much different was it back then, and today?

Wright: In some ways it is, but in other ways it isn't. You mentioned winning the championship in 1984, with Billy Hagan and Terry Labonte.

There were 14 guys on that team -- and that included the motor room, body hangers, the body shop and the guys that went to the racetrack. And we worked hard in the off-season, then.

Now, most of the teams give their road guys more time off in the off-season. Back then, we didn't get that. We were lucky, back then to get Christmas day [off]. Usually you did, but I can remember working Christmas day.

You used to test for Daytona in both December and January -- so you'd work through Christmas getting ready for January. And you didn't test on a designated week -- you just rented the track.

I remember one time, when they downsized the cars, in 1982, going to Daytona to test, like 12 times, because you wanted to run the Daytona 500, because it was the biggest-paying race there was, at that time.

But it's easier now, and I think that's why I'm still hanging around. When you went places, you didn't fly, you drove. We never knew our hours, and now teams have hours [to work].

Teams have breaks and they have lunch. I can remember when I was glad just to get to go home [laughing]. It's a lot easier now than it was then.

That really burns me up, to listen to some of these guys [crewmen]. That's probably my biggest sore spot. I have a son who works with me, now, at DEI -- actually he was working at DEI before the merger -- and he's 22, 23 years old.

He knows what I went through. But when I take and look -- we used to drive back from Michigan, all night, to be back in work by 10 o'clock Monday morning so we could go to Talladega on Tuesday night. These kids now say "I can't believe we're flying on this airplane -- this airplane sucks."

Get in a van and drive it. And used to be at our place, Ginn, at four o'clock if you're in the driveway you were going to get run over. If I'd stay and work over 15 minutes, and you've got a guy helping you, he keeps wanting to go.

Some of the kids nowadays realize what they got. But do the pit crews? I remember Junior [Johnson] doubled my pay to come from Hagan's to jack his racecar. But yet, he hired me as a mechanic. These kids now work as a mechanic and get one salary, and jack or change tires on a racecar and get another salary.

Give me a break. When I was doing it that was my job. A lot of times, you got a job as a mechanic because you could jack the car or change tires. But that didn't have any impact on what you were going to make. It was a job.

In '84, I was making $275 a week working at Billy Hagan's -- we won the championship with 14 people and worked our living butts off. And we got a $500 bonus for winning the championship.

Now, there are people who make four times that just to come here and work on Sunday [at the track on a pit crew]. I know things are more expensive, but some people need to sit down and look at what they got, and enjoy it and appreciate it a little more than what they show.

That's just the way I feel.

Q: One thing that's changed is guys now specialize. You've done a lot in your career, so what are you doing, now?

Wright: I don't know exactly what it is I am doing, but I do take care of the drivetrains. I don't build all the stuff any more [because] we have good guys who do all that.

While we were at Ginn, we hired Mike Waters from [transmission specialist] Tex Racing and [getting him] took the load off me and allowed me to work in some other areas. I take care of the fuel cells for the cars.

At the track, I help where I can, because there ain't much I haven't done. I kind of troubleshoot, and when I see something I don't like, I'll bring it up.

Q: Who's been the most impressive owner you've worked with?

Wright: Junior Johnson. I worked there into the late '80s, and I didn't really want to leave Junior's [in the early 1990s], but Terry [Labonte] was going back to Billy Hagan's and he wanted me to go with him.

Junior gave me his blessings and told me if I ever needed anything -- he told me "don't even call; just bring your tool box back, because that's the kind of employee you've been."

That was why I stayed at Ginn Racing, which formerly was MBV and MB2, for so long; was working for Jay Frye [former Ginn general manager]. Jay realized the way to run a team sometimes, is the people you hired, put trust in 'em -- and that was what was good working for Junior.

When I worked there, we practiced pit stops one time -- and I jacked the car for him the whole time I worked there. Junior drove up while we were practicing and he said, "If y'all need to practice, I need to hire me another pit crew."

His thought was "I hired you to jack my racecar and be a mechanic -- and if you need to practice, I need to hire someone who don't need to practice." So Junior was probably the best.

Q: Who were some of the most impressive teammates you've had -- or people you respected the most?

Wright: You've got to consider: I've been teammates with Robert Yates, Gary Nelson, Robin Pemberton, Gary DeHart, Steve Hmiel, Dale Inman -- I don't think there's anyone left [in the sport] who's had the chance to work with all those guys, I really don't.

See, I always told myself I sold myself too short when I was coming up through the ranks. I've been a crew chief. I was crew chief for Hut [Stricklin], Darrell [Waltrip], Terry Labonte -- that wasn't me. I just didn't like that.

And I think about the people I have worked with, and where they're at right now -- and I think, "What in the world did I do wrong?" Well, I didn't do anything wrong because I did what was right for me and I've enjoyed every minute that I've been here.

I quit school in the ninth grade to do this. And everyone always asks me, "Would you do it again?" If I had it to do again, well, I never thought the sport would get to where it's at, as far as computers and all. Back then, we didn't even know what a computer was -- we didn't have debit cards or none of that stuff.

If I had to do it again I would have stayed in school, and maybe thought about going to college. But I didn't. So what's the saying, "I made my bed, and now I'm going to lay in it?" And I've liked the bed I've been laying in.

Q: Who'd you work for, first?

Wright: I went down to Daytona, and I hung around the racetrack helping whoever I could, for whatever I could get. It might have been Joe Frasson, I helped H.B. Bailey -- whoever needed help that day, I would help, and they would pay me.

Back then you were there for three weeks. So I worked for Cecil Gordon, and I worked for Buddy Arrington for a while. I got around. I can't answer the question of who I first worked for, because I worked for so many. You found out, and that was one thing I was smart at, instead of going to work for one guy at a set price I could work for several guys on a good weekend and make twice the money.

The first time I went down to Daytona, I went with 27 dollars in my pocket and I came home with 47 dollars, so I did OK.

Q: Who impresses you in the garage area today?

Wright: I'm gonna have to say one is Ryan [Pemberton, the 01's crew chief], because I work for him. And that's another reason I've stayed here. Ryan left us for a while, and I was a supporter of his to get him back. I like working for him because he's been through the ranks and he knows what it's like to drive to the races and all this stuff.

And then I'd have to think about Steve Letarte, Jeff Gordon's crew chief. I think he's done a great job there; and of course you know, everybody's going to say he's got Jeff Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports -- but he also has a number of people under him that he has to direct, he has to work with these people and handle the media and everything else.

I've known Steve since he was a kid and I've known his dad. And I think he's done an awesome job. Having Jeff Gordon ain't the key to the city, even though it's great to have a driver like that.

A man that's good at being a leader has to be able to handle controversy within his team, and I think that's where some of the better crew chiefs that are out there, shine; because everything ain't always going to be roses.

That was like Ginn's earlier this year. When there wasn't but nine of us on the team, it was nice! Earlier this year we had 200 employees and every little thing that happens [is a mess].

Q: In your time in the sport, who are the top three drivers?

Wright: I've been asked that a thousand times. To me, The King [Richard Petty] is The King -- but I can't rate him in the top three because at the time when he was winning all the races, the equipment that he had over other people [was better].

I think as far as drivers that really drove and was smart about what they did, I think you have to definitely put David Pearson in there. I was around him, and he most impressed me, but this is hard.

Cale Yarborough would be in there; of course Dale Earnhardt, because there will never be another Dale Earnhardt; Tim Richmond I thought was great and it's a shame he isn't around now because he would have took some of these kids to school.

Really, when I look back at drivers, I look back 15 years ago, when we didn't have all the stuff we do now, when you went to test, to show 'em what the cars are doing. They got in there and they drove.

But I think out of the latest ones we've got now, I think Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin [are the best]. I work for Mark [now], but I had never worked for him but I had watched him during his whole career.

Q: What impresses you most about Mark?

Wright: I worked with Darrell [Waltrip], and I thought that he was a smart driver. He could tell me when I was his crew chief, things that he wanted me to do. Mark knows what he wants, and he knows how he can get that feel and the way that he relates back to the crew chief or the engineer or whoever he wants to talk to at the time -- he's even helped me on the drivetrains and stuff, explaining they didn't feel right.

In the past 10 years I haven't had that. It's like, all of a sudden you're having a great dream and you're getting ready to wake up -- that's what it's like working with Mark. It's been a blessing to know I actually got to work with him, and that I can add him to my list.

Q: Did you ever think you'd be working for DEI?

Wright: No, I never did. I knew about it all going down, years ago with Dale [Earnhardt], but I just never thought I'd be there. It's like I said about my son working there -- maybe it was meant to be.

Q: Given your history in the sport, what's the experience been like, in the short term?

Wright: It's been a learning experience, because everywhere I've been in the past, it hasn't been as businesslike as it is right now. And being with [DEI] has shown me that -- that maybe there are other ways that things have to be done than what I've been accustomed to.

It's been a growing period for me, and I don't care -- you never know everything and you can't ever say you've done it all until you've worked around and went around the corner and worked for somebody else.

So it's all a learning experience, just not for me, but for all the guys on the team.

Q: Martin and Aric Almirola -- who are splitting time in your 01 car this season -- next year are going to split time in the 8 car currently driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. As a crewman, do you believe in the colors you're wearing, or the number?

Wright: I believe more in the number. No -- I take that back. I want to go where Mark Martin goes. Because he's the one that has puffed a fresh breath of air into my racing career and I would like -- you know, he's talking about racing another year or so -- I'd like to end my career working for him.

That's what I'm looking at.