We all get great calls in life -- calls from our family members on holidays, calls to service, calls of gratitude when we've done something nice.

Whatever the call may be, we always remember the great details surrounding the particularly life-changing ones like a player going into the draft, a call from a boss with a dream job offer, the call from your wife saying you'll be a father soon.

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I can remember seeing Jeff [Gordon] race for the first time at Atlanta, and I was so impressed with his talent. And then we found out he wasn't under contract, and I just couldn't believe it.

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-- RICK HENDRICK

We remember things like where we were, what we were wearing, what was playing on the radio even.

It's no different for NASCAR drivers. They never forget the day they got the proverbial "call" to go racing in NASCAR's big leagues.

Clint Bowyer was standing inside a body shop in Kansas when he got the call that would change his life forever. Racing some asphalt events in the Midwest on weekends and working in a body shop through the week, Bowyer was trying to make it to the next level before running out of money.

"All of a sudden your cell phone rings standing in the middle of a body shop at 3 o'clock in the afternoon and it's Richard Childress on the phone," Bowyer recalled. "That phone call doesn't happen in any sport really, let alone what your dream was of trying to get to the next level."

Bowyer is right. Those magical phone calls are a rarity, if not obsolete, so even though we've heard the story told dozens of times it never gets old. Even though we aren't millionaires living in NASCAR's fast lane, we all can relate.

"Being able to go down to your parents and tell them you're never going to believe who just called me, and by the way, I've got to leave at 6:30 in the morning, so I'll be gone. It was a pretty cool situation," he said.

A teenage boy will always remember getting a call from the high school coach or reading his name posted on a varsity roster in the locker room. Daughters will never forget the time they ripped open that first college acceptance letter in front of the mailbox. And I'll never forget the day the local newspaper sent me on my first assignment. Sadly, it was the goat show at the county 4-H fair.

Nevertheless, these times are special and Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin also has a unique and memorable story surrounding his call. It began at Hickory Motor Speedway. (Continued)