Bobby Hamilton: Wide Open and In-Depth
Q. Explain how the split with
Morgan-McClure happened and was it an amicable?
A. I think it was friendly. It was raining
in New Hampshire and Larry McClure and I were talking when he asked me what I
thought we could do to make our team better. I’m pretty disgusted at this
point and I told him I had some problems with others in the organization. He
expressed to me that he thought I acted like I didn’t really want to be there
anymore and I just basically confirmed he was right.
I told Larry I’d seen so many 3-year
deals go sour. When I was with Richard Petty, the very same thing happened. But,
when I told Richard I was leaving we started to run better, it seems people pick
it up a little after such an announcement. We sat on a few poles and even won at
Rockingham.
To me, there’s something to the 3-year
theory, it just don’t seem to work anymore unless you’re a Jeff Gordon or
Dale Earnhardt who’ve been molded into a lifetime type deal.
Sterling Marlin’s first year with
Morgan-McClure he won 2 races and finished 3rd in points. His second
year there, he won 2 races and was 14th in points. His third year
there, he won no races and was 30th in points. It was a very similar
situation for me when I came aboard. My first year there, I won a race, sat on a
couple of poles and finished in the top-10 in points. My second year, I had no
wins and was 14th in points and my third year, 30th in
points.
My theory may be different from Larry’s
since he’s the owner, but it seems to make sense. I just think people get too
lax in their responsibility and motivation is lacking. I also think it’s
difficult to get great people with the MMM shop being located in Abingdon,
Virginia.
I told Larry that if we split now, the MMM
team will probably improve and win a few races next season and I’ll probably
do the same with my new team. So, he asked me if that’s what I wanted to do
and I said yes.
You know, I think the world of Larry and I
know what he goes through as a car owner considering I’m a Truck Series owner,
so it’s tough dealing with all the internal stuff going on within a team.
I find it ironic that my theory seems to
validate what I explained earlier, just look at Kenny Wallace after he announced
he’s leaving the Square D team. He nearly wins at Talladega! It’s simply
because the team stepped up a notch and want to show they can finish out the
season on a good, positive note. The only bonus these crews get is to see their
car run well or win the race. So, I’ll continue to do my best for
Morgan-McClure the remainder of 2000 and hope to get a win.
Q. So, its’ safe to assume there is
no 3-year deal with Andy Petree Racing?
A. That’s right. We have a 2-year
contract. I totally refuse to do a 3-year deal again. Yet, I want to continue
racing for a while because I still have a hole or void inside me to fill. Once
you’ve won a Cup race, you want more! A true racer wakes up at night thinking
of ways to improve and win. It’s a motivational tool because it totally pisses
me off big time not to win. I can finish a race in 3rd or 4th
place and feel okay, but if I finish 2nd, it nearly kills me cause I
always think I should have won the thing.
Q. Talk more about your decision to go
over to Andy Petree Racing.
A. Andy called me last year before Joe
Nemechek went there and said I owed it to myself to come and take a look at
their program. I told him I’d really love to, but it would be really premature
and not good business knowing I wasn’t leaving MMM at that time. Besides, it
could have jeopardized Larry’s deal with Kodak re-signing if there was any
sort of problem within the team. I had given my word last year to stay and I had
to live up to that deal. Actually, my contract with MMM is through 2001,
although technically we’d not re-upped a contract. But, Andy called again down
the road and I told him I’d like to come over and take a closer look. I went
over and saw that it’s basically like a Hendrick Motorsports operation. They
build their own cars, own bodies, own engines, own gears, and nearly every piece
of the car.
I understand from owning my Truck team
that it’s so much better to have as many in-house products as possible because
it allows you to keep a better handle on what’s going on. I feel Andy has a
much better handle on things than many other car owner’s because he’s been a
successful crew chief, stood on the stage in New York City, and worked for
people like Dale Earnhardt and Harry Gant. I really like the fact that Andy has
had his butt nailed to the wall before handling two teams, two major sponsors,
and figured out a way to make it work successfully.
Plus, Andy and I have good chemistry and
he’ll listen to my ideas and explore them. He may not use the idea, but he
turns it inside out. Chemistry between driver, owner, and team is the key to a
winning team.
Q. Danny Gill, the crew chief, is
leaving MMM with you, correct?
A. You’re actually the first reporter I’ve
told this to and although you cannot print it until the official announcement,
Danny is going to Andy Petree Racing with me. He’ll be crew chief for Joe
Nemechek in 2001.
Danny was getting a lot of offers from
other truck teams and a few car teams and I really didn’t want to lose him. I
felt like I’d trained Danny somewhat, but he already has a great head on his
shoulders for racing. I just saw the potential there because he and I have such
similar backgrounds when he and I both started out. He was a driver on a very
limited budget and had to build most of his own equipment.
Danny is an extremely quick learner. For
example, in 1999 he’d never seen a shock being built for a Cup car so I took
him over to my house and showed him one time how to do it and he picked right up
on it. Same thing happened when carrying him to the wind tunnel; one visit and
he understood it right away.
In Danny’s short time with MMM, the
Kodak car had already improved and we’d not taken another provisional since he
entered the picture. Larry McClure told him not to expect miracles though
considering he was coming into a situation where the team was pretty bad.
It feels good to me to have invested some
time and energy into someone like Danny and watch him grow and succeed. He’s
controlling his own destiny and I’m just there is he needs anything along the
way.
Q. Could you expound a little on the
recent wreck between you and Mark Martin in Talladega?
A. That wreck was a deal you cannot blame
on anyone. I’m underneath Mark, Jeff Gordon decides to zip down pit road and
Mark is probably told to follow whatever Jeff does. Mark immediately had to turn
left and I was there and we hit. Mark would have given the hand signal to pit
all the way down the back straightaway with time to do so. That’s just a rule
of thumb and it’s preached in the driver’s meetings. There’s just such
little time to react when traveling 190 mph especially when I’m under him and
he’s told to pit.
I’ll apologize to Mark for running into
him, he’ll apologize for turning left and that’s just racin’!! You cannot
find a more courteous driver in Winston Cup than Mark Martin! You can bet your
butt it was not an intentional thing on his part. Mark’s goal is to win every
race and not get a scratch on his car doing it!
Mark and I both realize we made a mistake
that could have cost someone their life, it’s serious business! That’s why I
turned left and veered into the wall and Mark gassed it while turning left to
avoid oncoming traffic. You have two drivers who are competitive as hell, but
when all hell breaks loose, we both still have concern for our fellow drivers.
Q. Out of curiosity, during a wreck
similar to the Mark Martin incident, do you realize you’re about to impact the
wall or does it just happen too fast?
A. Oh yeah, you know the wall is coming
and coming fast! I saw it coming in Talladega, moved my hands up on the steering
wheel, braced my left foot on the floorboard and waited for impact.
Sometimes I conduct the rookie meetings
and I explain to them that even running at 200 mph and there’s a wreck in
front of you, you’ve got a second or two to make a decision. Of course, they
look at me like I’m stupid, but there is generally time for a split second
reaction. I tell them to try and not lock up the brakes, spin out, or run blind
into it. Now, think of a second or two, it clicks by pretty fast, right? But,
you can cover a whole lot of track in those few seconds at 200 mph, so you do
have time to react somewhat. It comes with experience.
Q. So, were you thinking, "Oh
hell, this is going to hurt?"
A. (Laughs) Not really, you’re too busy
trying to keep some control of the car. The "oh hell" moment comes
after you have smacked the wall and you get out and look at all the damage and
realize what a bad lick that was.
Q. Were you injured in the Talladega
wreck, you looked pretty stunned getting out of the car?
A. Well, my chin was banged up by the
impact of the steering wheel and my chest was hurting pretty badly. I knew the
steering wheel hit me pretty hard because it knocked the breath out of me and
nearly knocked me out!
The steering wheel compressed into me and
sprung back out, like an accordion effect. My head went forward, but the
steering wheel actually kept me from going too far forward and then snapping
back. The seat and seat belt did their job thankfully.
You know, I wasn’t supposed to have let
my window net down if I was injured, which I was, but I saw smoke pouring in and
naturally thought fire and I just wanted out quickly. The ambulance never came,
but like I said, I let the net down which is their cue that a driver is okay, my
crew did coming running to me though. Thankfully, I’m fine though, just sore.
Q. Were you at all interested in
driving with one of the new Dodge teams in 2001?
A. Yes I was, but it was all moving too
slowly. The Dodge engineering staff is exceptional and their technology can
prevail quickly, but I just needed an answer faster than they could give me.
We worked hard to try and work out a deal
to be Sterling Marlin’s teammate over at Chip Ganassi’s operation. It would
have been a great setup for Sterling and me since we live nearby each other and
we fly together a lot, but it just didn’t work out.
Chip Ganassi was dealing with problems
with the Indy car group plus he was waiting to see what Jeremy Mayfield was
going to do, so it just did not work out for me.
I have a blast with the Dodge people
involved with my Truck team and it’s a great connection for me, but I still
have a lot of Chevy blood in me too because they’ve treated me so well. People
ask me how I can run Dodge trucks and drive Chevy cars and I just say, hey,
neither of those corporations have a problem with it, neither side cares, and we
just try to keep both sides happy and vice-versa.
Q. Do you think Dodge will be
successful immediately upon re-entering Winston Cup?
A. Well, I think Dodge will come out very
competitive, but I think they’ll have to endure a learning curve too.
Just look how long Chevy has been in this
business and when the new 2000 Monte Carlo came out, there were problems. With
the exception of Dale Earnhardt winning right out of the box in Atlanta, nobody
was really running well. I’ll have to put a feather in Earnhardt’s hat
because at tracks like Atlanta and Talladega, he’s just hard to beat!
So, the bottom line is, no matter how much
technology you have or great people involved, it’s still going to take awhile
to get things going exactly as planned.
Q. Your thoughts on Ray Evernham’s
involvement in the new Dodge.
A. Ray will do a great job, no doubt. Ray
will need to have the total package with no missing links though. I personally
feel there’s still the missing link and that link is named Jeff Gordon. That’s
not to take anything away from Bill Elliott nor Casey Atwood talent-wise, but
Jeff and Ray just had chemistry and understood each other so well and it really
worked for that team.
Q. And your thoughts on Chip Ganassi’s
team with driver Sterling Marlin.
A. I think Chip and Sterling will be one
of the best, if not the best Dodge team out there. Sterling is so damned
versatile, he can get in anything and drive it and get the job done. The first
time they give him good cars, he’ll win. He’s nearly won several races this
year when he’s had good equipment that didn’t break. I personally think
changing that Coors Light team over to Dodge is a good deal for all of them.
You know, Chip is a racer, he don’t
really care about all the bells and whistles, publicity, shiny buses, and pretty
airplanes. Chip is not frivolous with money at all because he’s worked and
still works hard for everything. He puts things in perspective, so I think he
and Sterling will have the chemistry there to make it a great team.
Q. You’ve probably heard some fans
and media state that some of the older drivers are just out there driving for a
paycheck since they continue to stay with what appears to be a sub par team and
they have lost their competitive edge, how would you respond to that?
A. Well, I’ve got lots to say about
that! First of all, the fans and media don’t really know what goes on inside
our teams and what gets reported may or may not be accurate. But, I’ll happily
try and explain it.
Let’s use the # 4 Kodak team as an
example while discussing this issue. Everyone heard my remarks throughout the
year about bad motors or that the crew chief isn’t good or whatever. All that
really happened was our motors weren’t very good and we really had no crew
chief to make the right calls. Larry and I made the decision to part ways and
then the team feels like they can’t talk to the driver because he isn’t
coming around much anymore. The public just doesn’t know what was truly going
on, only that there were some major problems.
To this date, we’ve broken 30 motors,
30!! That includes race weekend, qualifying, practice, test sessions, etc., but
it’s still unheard of to break 30 motors! Robert Yates Racing has maybe broken
one motor this year.
In my first year with the # 4 team we
never had parts failures and then again, after I decided to leave after this
year, again we improved and had a real shot at winning Martinsville and a great
showing in Talladega. Not to keep saying it, but it’s the 3-year slump again.
In the past, it was totally unheard of for
the # 4 car not to run well in restrictor plate races. Even Sterling didn’t
run well in the restrictor plate races his last year with Morgan-McClure and we
all know he’s probably the best restrictor plate racer around!
So, I guess when a team starts to sour, we
look like we’re just running around trying to collect money and could care
less about winning, but nothing could be further from the truth. Hell, I’m the
lowest paid driver in Winston Cup, I make more money with my Dodge Truck team
than in Winston Cup! I’ve never, ever driven just for money. Anyone over the
age of 40 has learned not to take stupid chances and try to win at any cost,
there are other lives at stake and you better not make those stupid mistakes
anymore on the track. There’s a lot to say for age and experience.
Just like I talked to you earlier about
the wreck with Mark and me, neither of us wanted to take half the field out by
doing something stupid. Did you see Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the last lap in
Talladega recently? He was totally off on the apron of the track. No older
driver would do that! It has nothing to do with talent, he flat screwed up.
Junior is lucky that NASCAR had good aerodynamics for the cars for a change that
helped hold his car, but if it had been the spring race and he drove like that,
he’d taken out most of the cars around him.
Q. So, it’s like anything else in
life, with age comes wisdom?
A. Exactly. Like I hit on above, guys like
Sterling and me don’t just drive around for money, we’ve learned to be
smarter drivers. Hell, Sterling probably doesn’t need the money, but he still
drives like a man possessed!
Q. Or like a fan told me once, Sterling
drives it like he stole it!
A. (Laughs) Yep, no doubt.
An example I can give you is Martinsville.
Sterling could have probably finished in the Top 10, but his exhaust pipes blew
off about 40-50 miles into the race. He and I were flying together and I decided
to walk over to his trailer to see what was going on. He was lying there getting
oxygen, hell, I thought he looked dead! He could barely move. The man drove his
heart out that day with straight headers and no tailpipe. And for what? Money?
Not a chance! Hell, the race only pays around $80,000 to win the damned thing,
hardly enough to kill yourself over! Money don’t even enter your way of
thinking, if it does, you’re in the wrong place.
Hey, I understand the fan concerns and
that they want "their guy" to win and be competitive every week, and
believe me, we’re trying. I can promise you, and I’m speaking for myself and
Sterling here, when all the elements are right, we’ll win again and be able to
run with anybody!
I told Larry McClure that I know I’m not
the best driver out there, that’s Dale Earnhardt hands down, but I’m in the
Top 12 and Sterling is in the Top 8 in a heartbeat! Both of us have outrun the
very best at some time or another and will do so again with the right car!
I admit it ticks me off that people haven’t
trusted Sterling or me when we give our opinion on the bad motors. It’s like,
don’t even try to tell me our motors are fine when you suddenly get a Hendrick
motor, the 7th best one out of 7, and it still outruns my motor!
Finally, everyone starts to understand what the hell we’ve been trying to get
across all year and certainly the fans know it too!
Q. The race fans of today are an
intelligent and well-informed group, would you agree?
A. Absolutely! You know, you’re really
screwing up nowadays if you try to pretend with the fans that you’re something
you aren’t. They want you to be yourself, not some larger than life racecar
driver. They want to see the "real" you, even if you’re in a bad
mood or had a lousy race weekend or whatever. They want to see an honest person
they can talk to and share their views with. They cheer you up when you’re
down and they just want you to be open with them. They know about their
particular favorite driver and most of the elements that goes into racing
successfully.
Q. Phoenix is next, what are your
thoughts on that race?
A. Well, I had my first win out there with
Richard Petty Racing. I have held a few poles there and I think I still hold a
track record there.
We were out there when the filming of
"Days of Thunder" and I was driving the car for the movie scenes and
then took it out and qualified 5th in it! Rick Hendrick saw us
qualify it and told the movie people to remove that damned camera from that
particular car and mount it on another one because we were taking the other one
racing!
So, I have a lot of fun and memories in
Phoenix and look forward to going back and seeing what we can get done.
Q. Any final thoughts on joining Andy
Petree Racing and driving the # 55 Square D Chevrolet next season?
A. It’s going to be a good deal for
everyone. I look forward to it and the fans should too. We’ll be very
competitive and really look forward to winning some races!