Hamilton's '96 win returns Petty team to Victory Lane

The 1996 Dura Lube 500 at Phoenix International Raceway featured a first-time winner putting NASCAR royalty back in Victory Lane, and the Iron Man proving that he was well deserving of the nickname.

Since Richard Petty drove his family-owned No. 43 Pontiac to a 3-second win over Darrell Waltrip in the 1983 Miller High Life 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Petty Enterprises had suffered through a victory drought.

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In 1995, the team took a chance on Bobby Hamilton, perhaps better known at that time for helping film portions of the action footage for Days of Thunder. Hamilton knew he had the talent and drive to succeed. He just needed the equipment to match.

Hamilton had come close to a win at Dover in 1995 and another at Martinsville earlier in the 1996 season, but he remained winless in his Cup career until that all changed at Phoenix, in what seemed the unlikeliest of scenarios.

Starting 17th in a field of 44 cars on the next-to-last race weekend of the season, Hamilton moved up to challenge early leaders Bobby Labonte and Mark Martin, taking the top spot during green-flag stops. But it seemed every time Hamilton had to pit, he wound up losing track position.

Hamilton defended the team, saying there were a number of reasons why it looked like the No. 43 was losing ground in the pits.

"Our pit stops were good today," Hamilton said. "I could tell when I'd come out behind certain cars. A lot of the track positions we lost, we took on four tires every time [except the last]. The only teams that beat us out of the pits took on two tires, except [Martin] one time.

"The other time there at the end, we came out fourth or fifth because we had to make an adjustment on the car. I've got to take up for my guys. The pit stops were good."

Hamilton passed Dale Jarrett for the lead on Lap 153, only to have the caution flag come out. But he was in the thick of the battle when the last of five yellows was displayed with 50 laps to go. While all of the leaders -- including Hamilton -- headed for service, Geoffrey Bodine rolled the dice, trading track position for fresh tires.

When the green flew on Lap 266, Bodine led, followed by Terry Labonte, Martin and Hamilton. But it didn't take long for Hamilton to reassert himself at the front. He passed Martin for third three laps into the run, then got by Labonte on Lap 273. That just left Bodine, who was a sitting duck for the faster Hamilton, who blew by the No. 7 Ford 10 laps later.

But that was about the time Hamilton began to feel worried. (Continued)