Time and technology seemed to have passed by Richard Petty, NASCAR's most durable legend. Then the 43 car went to Phoenix by Ed Hinton Bobby Hamilton waited seven years and 167 races to earn his first Winston Cup victory; his boss, Richard Petty, waited even longer to return to Victory Lane. (Margin of victory: 1.23 seconds) Bobby Hamilton, Pontiac, 312 laps at 109.709 mph Mark Martin, Ford, 312 laps Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 312 laps Ted Musgrave, Ford, 312 laps Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 312 laps 2 hours, 50 minutes, 38 seconds; 5 flags, 25 laps run under caution Bobby Labonte* 131.076 mph with point totals (and points earned this weekend) 1 Terry Labonte 4,497 (170) 2 Jeff Gordon 4,450 (155) 3 Dale Jarrett 4,398 (147) 4 Dale Earnhardt 4,162 (127) 5 Mark Martin 4,127 (180) *Record (previous record: Bill Elliott, 130.020 mph, 1995) In retrospect, Richard Petty claimed he'd never doubted that his storied number 43 would return to Victory Lane. "It was just a matter of time," he said after Bobby Hamilton won the Dura-Lube 500 at Phoenix International Raceway in a Petty Enterprises Pontiac. It was the King's first win in 12 years, and he relished it, all teeth and sunglasses, as of yore. Over those dozen years Petty had told anyone who would listen, "When circumstances get right, we'll win races." He seemed to be saying this mostly for his own benefit. "Circumstances"—Petty's nebulous explanation for every one of his NASCAR-record 200 wins as a driver, dating back to 1958—had turned overwhelmingly against him by the mid-1980s. By then the rest of NASCAR had gone high tech, and he shrugged and said, "We've been doing this the same way for 25 years, so we don't believe we'll change." It was a mistake Petty regretted as he lost race after race. "We not only didn't lead the way," he lamented, "we didn't even follow." Catching up, technologically and financially, with the likes of Hendrick Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing was a more-than-monumental task when Petty Enterprises finally got around to trying after the King retired as a driver in 1992. But it wasn't until late in the '96 season that the 43 team showed twitches of new life, with Hamilton scoring five top-10 finishes in six races in August and September. Then, at Phoenix, the longer the number 43 Pontiac went between pit stops, the better it performed. Five caution flags—circumstances—repeatedly erased its edge, however, allowing competitors to take on fresh tires, bunch up behind the pace car and temporarily seize control. "We were really good on long runs, but it looked like every time we'd get out front they'd have a caution," Petty said. Even after Hamilton took the lead for keeps on Lap 283 of the 312-lap race, a smoking car—that of none other than Petty's son, Kyle—raised fears that oil on the track might cause another caution. "And then they threw a black flag at him," the King said with a chuckle after NASCAR ordered Kyle to pit. Hamilton and boss Petty found that elusive victory was something to shout about. photograph by George Tiedemann There were no further cautions. Circumstances were right at last. "Now they know how to win," Petty said of the team surrounding him. "And now I think there'll be a lot more [wins] to come." It was the first time the number 43 car had visited Victory Lane since July 4, 1984, when Petty nipped Cale Yarborough at the checkered flag at Daytona for his milestone 200th win. That version of number 43 was fielded by a team owned by Californian Mike Curb; the last time a Petty Enterprises car had visited Victory Lane was Oct. 9, 1983, at Charlotte, but that win was tainted by the $38,000 fine Petty had to pay for winning with an illegal engine. And so Phoenix was the first fair-and-square Petty Enterprises victory since May 1, 1983, at Talladega. It had taken 13 years, five months and 26 days. But the King was back.