"I wouldn't even think about the championship until five or six races to go in the season, but even then it wasn't my main focus," Hamilton said.  "Last year was about my people.  I am the type of owner that is surrounded with a good support group, but there isn't anything that goes on in the shop that I don't have my hands in.  My deal is structured very, very simple. I walk in there on Mondays and hang around in the shop getting pulled in several different directions and answer questions.  I help design the chassis and love that part of it.  On Tuesdays I sign the bills and talk about what we've got to do for testing and the next event with travel.  On Wednesdays they leave me alone - they do their job and I overlook it.  And on Thursdays we're going to the racetrack.  That's the way it is at my shop.

"Basically all I did was took the middle people out so nobody could say, 'Well, so-and-so told me this, or they didn't tell me this,' from two years ago to last year," Hamilton said.  They have to come to me about everything.  I've got 40 people.  It isn't that hard to juggle 40 people a week if you have crew chiefs that handle their people well.  I trust my instincts and that is what makes us a championship team."

That champion mentality bled over into his people.  Hamilton, who came to his own stable full time after a 12-year stint in the Winston Cup Series, and his drivers have been in contention for the championship since BHR's inception in 1999.  Each driver that has worked his way through the operation has pushed the standard higher.  But it was the owner/driver, in only his second season earning a series-high 12 top-five finishes, who acquired the title, a first for his factory-backed manufacturer Dodge in the NCTS.  Hamilton's standard, the most top fives and the series leader in wins, which all came at distinctively different tracks - Atlanta Motor Speedway, Memphis Motorsports Park, Kentucky Speedway and Nashville Superspeedway - set the stage for a year to remember.

"I told my guys last year to have fun and not get bothered by all the hype of a championship," Hamilton said.  "There were many times at the end of the season that the guys would be wrestling in the back of the hauler or playing football at lunch break or even cards on the back of the truck when we had down time.  They wore it well.  That is what I expect them to do this year too.

"I think if you win the most races in 2005 and have the least DNF's, then you're the guy at the end going for the championship," Hamilton said.  "This year we have more veterans like Ricky Craven, Ron Hornaday, Jack Sprague and Jimmy Spencer to race a bunch of new kids like Timothy Peters or Todd Kluever.  It's getting more competitive and drawing more attention.  That is fine with me.  I felt like winning the championship last season was one of the toughest ones in the truck series.  I have people say all the time, 'I won a championship with another driver and we're coming to kick your tail.'  I say 'Buddy, times change.  Bring it on. You'd better eat your Wheaties because you're going to need 'em.'"

Hamilton's cocky personality has made him a favorite among many teams, but hated by others.  That doesn't affect the driver, who led 415 laps last year, in the least.  When the four-time Winston Cup winner puts on his firesuit, straps himself into his No. 4 Dodge, pulls those belts tight and the window net goes up, nothing else matters.

"I go for the win every time," Hamilton said.  "I'm not the type of driver that pushes anyone around, but I'm also not the type who will take anything either.  I'm still hungry for another championship and making it two in a row would be even better.  Last year I raced when I wanted to and rode when I wanted to.  I made the right decisions and we were there at the end.

"I know how to lose 'em, I did that in 2003," Hamilton said.  "But I know how to win 'em, even though other competitors like Sprague and Hornaday have more experience with that.  I've always said when you surround yourself with good people and good product, it usually works well."

Bobby Hamilton Quick Facts:

• Hamilton is the current NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion.
• Through the end of the 2004 season, in 74 NCTS starts, Hamilton has eight wins, 27 top-five and 42 top-10 finishes.  This stat includes his Atlanta, Memphis, Kentucky and Nashville wins in 2004, and two wins, Darlington and Homestead, in 2003.
• Owner of three NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series entries, including his own No. 4 Dodge and the No. 18 Dodge driven by Chase Montgomery.  The third BHR team, the No. 04 Bailey's Dodge, is driven by Timothy Peters and will run a limited schedule in 2005.
• In 2003, his first full season in the NCTS, Hamilton finished sixth in the points championship.
• Hamilton has four career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victories at four distinctly different tracks: Phoenix (Oct. 27, 1996); Rockingham, N.C. (Oct. 27, 1997); Martinsville, Va. (April 20, 1998) and Talladega, Ala. (Apr. 22, 2001).
• In his first season with Andy Petree Racing, Hamilton won the Talladega 500 (Apr. 22, 2001) claiming the first victory for sponsor Square D and APR.
• In the Pennzoil 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (Nov. 12, 2000), Hamilton celebrated his 300th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series start.  On the same day Hamilton's son, Bobby Hamilton, Jr. took his first career Winston Cup Series start.
• Hamilton earned his first Winston Cup victory in 1996 and became the first driver to win in a Petty Enterprise's car since Richard Petty won in 1983.  Ironically the victory at Phoenix International Raceway was the same site of his first Winston Cup start (Nov. 5, 1989) as part of the filming of the "Days of Thunder" stock car racing movie.
• In 1996, Hamilton claimed his first career pole on June 21 in Michigan.  That season he posted 11 top-10s, including three top-fives, before finishing a career-high ninth-place in the point standings.
• Hamilton joined Petty Enterprises in 1995, and posted four top-fives and ten top-10s en route to notching the 14th spot in the final points standings.
• In 1991 he earned NASCAR Winston Cup Series' Rookie-of-the-Year honors.

Bobby Hamilton Interesting Facts:

Favorite Music: Country
Favorite Pastime: Racing
Personal Vehicle: 2004 SRT10 Dodge Viper
Hero(s): Richard Petty
Favorite TV Show: Beavis and Butthead
Favorite Movie: Simon Birch
Last movie you've seen: White Noise
Favorite Restaurants: Cracker Barrel
Favorite Racing Memory: My First Win with the King
Favorite Track(s): Charlotte, Richmond, Highland Rim
Best part of my job: Dealing with my People
Worst part of my job: Dealing with my People
Personality trait most admired in others: No Nonsense
Personality trait least admired in others: Fake Personalities
Something I couldn't live without: Bobby Jr., Haylie
Favorite thing to do in the off-season: Hibernate, Race, Test
If I was not racing I'd be: Trying to race