Labonte takes his turn in spotlight with fifth-place finish at Bristol

BRISTOL, Tenn. (March 26, 2006) – Bobby Labonte brought the month of March to a close in a big way for Petty Enterprises, steering the No. 43 Cheerios / Betty Crocker Dodge to a fifth-place finish in Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Coming on the heels of teammate Kyle Petty’s eighth-place run a week earlier at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Sunday’s effort by Labonte puts both Petty Enterprises teams among the elite top 35 in car owner points – the benchmark used to guarantee starting spots beginning with next weekend’s DIRECTV 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

Petty also had a solid run Sunday, finishing 18th in the No. 45 Schwan’s Dodge.

After starting 30th in the 43-car field, Labonte patiently worked traffic and had advanced to 23rd place by lap 130. Although his car was not perfect, a series of adjustments helped balance the chassis and Labonte continued his methodical march toward the front – charging into the top 15 before the mid-point of the 500-lap marathon.

He rolled into the top 10 at lap 324 and soon began applying pressure on the cars in front of him. Labonte steered through six caution periods over the final 162 laps, avoided serious contact with other competitors and notched his best finish of the young season.

“This is a tough place, but we were confident we could run well here,” Labonte said. “The guys in the pits gave us good stops all day long and we had a great car. This was a total team effort.”

Late contact between Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth actually prevented Labonte from finishing even higher.

“I got down on the apron and began spinning the tires to get out of the way,” Labonte said. “Then, when I took off, the tires kept spinning and Carl (Edwards) got by me.”

For Petty’s part, he overcame an early spin and rallied from one lap down to protect his spot among the coveted top 35 in owner points. He was 24th in points entering the event and is 25th coming out. Labonte advanced from 38th to 32nd entering next weekend’s competition at Martinsville.

Sunday’s race winner was Kurt Busch, with the rest of the top five comprised of Kevin Harvick, who finished second; Matt Kenseth, third; Edwards, fourth; and Labonte in fifth. Kenseth’s third-place finish lifted him into the NEXTEL Cup Series lead with five races completed in the 2006 season.

Source: bobbylabonte.com

Date: 3/27/2006 7:24:10 AM