Hamilton's '96 win returns Petty team to Victory Lane (cont'd)

"I picked up a bad vibration about halfway through the race and I knew it was [in the] driveline because we've had that happen before," Hamilton said. "[With] 10 laps to go, it felt like it was getting worse.

"Then my front end started pushing, and I said, 'Oh my God, I've got a tire going down.' I thought I heard a miss in the motor. Your mind just runs wild, but the good Lord took care of us."

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It isn't a big deal for me myself. I've won a lot of races. This is just my first in Winston Cup. But I've told a lot of people, there's Dale Earnhardt fans or Bill Elliott fans, but when those guys fall out of the race, they're still Richard Petty fans.

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BOBBY HAMILTON

In addition, Hamilton was worried about getting caught up in someone else's mistake.

"There were a couple of cars smoking on the track running right in our groove," Hamilton said. "I couldn't believe all the cars that were smoking. That was bugging me pretty bad. All that stuff was working on me the last 10 laps."

The car never missed a beat and Hamilton won by more than a second over Martin. For a driver who had finally achieved his life's goal, Hamilton was surprisingly subdued in Victory Lane.

"I'm a strange person," Hamilton said. "Two days from now I'll be worked up about this, but right now I'm happier for the guys on the team. This is a bigger deal for me to win in Richard Petty's car.

"It isn't a big deal for me myself. I've won a lot of races. This is just my first in Winston Cup. But I've told a lot of people, there's Dale Earnhardt fans or Bill Elliott fans, but when those guys fall out of the race, they're still Richard Petty fans.

"I thought it was pretty cool to win this race for him."

Hamilton would go on to win three more times in NASCAR's premier series and the 2004 Craftsman Truck Series championship before losing a battle with cancer in January of 2007.

For Terry Labonte, it was validation of his nickname, the Iron Man. Labonte drove the entire race despite suffering a broken finger in a practice crash earlier in the weekend. He started 30th and finished third, wearing a plastic cast and silicone pad that protected his damaged hand -- and actually increased his points lead over Jeff Gordon heading into the season finale.

"If you would have given me a top-10 yesterday, I would have taken it and said, 'Let's go on,'" Labonte said. "We injected my hand with something, something painful when it went in. I still really can't feel anything. I'll probably pay for it tonight going home.

"At least we have some time before Atlanta. We've got to go down there and run good and do the same thing we've done the past few weeks."

Labonte would finish fifth at Atlanta and win his second Cup title.

The Phoenix race also featured several lasts. It was the last race for Bobby Allison as a car owner, as Derrike Cope finished 43rd after crashing. And Kyle Petty's 29th-place finish was his last start for Felix Sabates.