Hamilton may be best remembered for two of his Winston Cup wins. His first career victory at the 1996 Dura Lube 500 at Phoenix was the first win for the No. 43 Petty car since Richard Petty\'s last win in 1984. He also had a memorable win at the Talladega 500 in April 2001 driving the No. 55 car for owner Andy Petree. The entire 500-mile race was run caution-free and was under intense scrutiny from both NASCAR and the media at large, being the first superspeedway race run since the death of Dale Earnhardt at the 2001 Daytona 500 two months earlier. A physically and mentally exhausted Hamilton slumped to the ground after exiting his car and was given oxygen from a tank before giving the standard post-race Victory Lane interview while sitting on the ground, leaning against the drivers door.\n', '

Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Hamilton lost his parents very young to illness as well. Hamilton quit school at the age of thirteen and began his racing career at Nashville Speedway USA, now Music City Motorplex, racing on the weekly circuit at the legendary track, where he won the track championship in 1987. Hamilton began to be noticed within the NASCAR ranks after racing in a special four-car "Superstar Showdown" at Nashville in 1988 against Winston Cup drivers Sterling Marlin, Darrell Waltrip, and Bill Elliott.\n', '

Hamilton broke into the Winston Cup ranks in a very unusual way. He was asked to drive one of the "movie cars" for the 1990 film Days of Thunder, qualifying fifth in a movie car at the 1989 Autoworks 500 in Phoenix, in a car that was not intended to be competitive. The car was the No. 51 Exxon-sponsored machine, portrayed in the movie as being driven by the character Rowdy Burns.\n', '

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