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Hamilton returned to NASCAR’s premier division in 1969 driving King’s #1 Dodge at Daytona. He qualified 2nd for his Twin 125 qualifier race for the Daytona 500 and finished 8th. Unfortunately, a crash on lap 44 took Hamilton out of the event. He then drove Banjo Matthew’s #27 Ford in the Atlanta 500 qualifying 21st and finishing 5th.

In 1970, Richard Petty put Hamilton behind the wheel of the #40 Petty Enterprises Plymouth and Hamilton rose to the occasion. He won the Daytona 500 after starting 9th. He finished 3rd in the Atlanta 500 and then won again in the Alabama 500 at Talladega. He qualified on the pole for the Motor State 400 at Michigan and finished second to Cale Yarborough. He qualified 4th for the Talladega 500 and recorded his third win of the season. He finished 3rd in the Southern 500. Dick Brooks put Hamilton in his #32 Plymouth for the Tidewater 300 at Hampton, Virginia and Hamilton brought it home in 3rd place. For the season, Hamilton made 16 starts and recorded 1 pole, 3 wins, 10 top-5s, and 12 top-10s driving Plymouth Superbirds. Chrysler/Dodge pulled is financial support from the NASCAR teams in the later part of the 1970 season and Petty Enterprises was forced to reduce the number of cars it fielded. Hamilton’s #40 was not in the budget without Chrysler’s backing.

In 1971, Cotton Owens chose Hamilton to drive his #6 Plymouth. Hamilton won his Twin 125 qualifier at Daytona, but an engine failure dropped him from the running in the Daytona 500. He qualified on the pole for the Yankee 400 at Michigan, but once again suffered an engine failure during the running of the event. Hamilton qualified on the pole for the Texas 500 at College Station, Texas and finished 4th. Despite 6 engine failures during the season and a handful of other mechanical failures, Hamilton recorded 2 poles, 11 top-5s and 12 top-10s in 22 starts.

In 1972, Hamilton drove the Housby Racing #5 Plymouth in 5 events suffering engine failures in 3 events, and crashing out of the fourth event. In the American 500 at Rockingham, North Carolina, Hamilton qualified 4th and finished 5th to record his only top-5 of the year. In 1973, Hamilton started 2 events and lost an engine in both failing to score a top-10 finish. Hamilton retired from racing in 1973. He would later be quoted to say, "Years ago my wife Suzy and I made a decision to go forward instead of looking back. We wanted to continue living life."

Career Accomplishments:

1967 NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Championship

1968 NASCAR Grand National Division Rookie of the Year