Labonte Finishes 32nd at Martinsville - Petty Family Honored Before Race

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (April 2, 2006) - A day that began with honors for Richard and Kyle Petty ended with both Petty Enterprises cars racing to the finish of Sunday's DIRECTV 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

Kyle Petty finished 30th in the No. 45 Schwan's Home Service Dodge while Bobby Labonte placed 32nd in the No. 45 Cheerios / Betty Crocker Dodge. Both cars were slowed by problems with rear end gears and spent time in the garage while repairs were made. Still, both were running at the finish.

During pre-race ceremonies under warm, sunny spring skies, the Petty family was named this year's recipient of the H. Clay Earles Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to NASCAR and Martinsville Speedway. Richard and Kyle were present to accept the honor.

After that, it was time to go racing. Petty was involved in the first incident of the afternoon, a four-car melee on the second lap that damaged the hood of his No. 45 Dodge. Despite the rough start, Petty soon found his rhythm and avoided additional contact as the race approached the halfway mark.

Suddenly, he radioed in that he felt a strong vibration. A short time later, Petty was parked in the garage as his crew replaced the rear end gear. Ironically, teammate Labonte had been sidelined with the same problem a few stalls down in the garage area. They both returned to complete the race some 50 laps later.

"Something had to have been wrong in the setup of the rear end gear," said Robbie Loomis, executive vice president of racing operations at Petty Enterprises. "We'll check it and find out what it was. Both cars were solid in their (lap) times compared to the competition."

Sunday's race winner was Tony Stewart, with the rest of the top five comprised of Jeff Gordon, who finished second; pole-sitter Jimmie Johnson, third; Dale Earnhardt Jr., fourth; and Kyle Busch was fifth. Johnson's third-place finish lifted him into the NEXTEL Cup Series lead with six races completed in the 2006 season.

Source: bobbylabonte.com

Date: 4/4/2006 2:31:16 PM