Labonte Qualifies Ninth for Nextel All-Star Challenge

CONCORD, N.C., Friday, May 21, 2004 – Bobby Labonte qualified ninth for the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge during qualifying May 21 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The unique qualifying session requires drivers to complete three laps, but at some point during the run, stop for a four-tire pit stop.

Labonte and the Interstate Batteries Racing Team completed the three laps in 125.602 seconds. The pit stop time was 13.5 seconds. He will start on the inside of row five next to Greg Biffle.

“It’s a little disappointing,” Labonte said. “We didn’t qualify quite as well as we’d like too, but the guys worked really hard. They gave me a good stop. Qualifying doesn’t really matter anyway, so we’ll see what we can do during the race."

Veteran Rusty Wallace won the pole at 123.998 seconds with a 12.6 pit stop.

The All-Star Challenge is 90 total laps, consisting of three segments of 40, 30 and 20 laps. Teams must make a mandatory, green flag pit stop at some point during the first 40-lap segment. There will be a 10-minute break following the first segment, at which time teams may change tires and make chassis adjustments without losing track position.

Between segment 1 and segment 2, a random drawing will be held to determine if as few as six or as many as 12 cars will be inverted. If necessary after the random drawing, drivers who finished behind those who were inverted from the first segment will start the second segment in the order in which they finished the first segment.

Between segment 2 and segment 3, there will be a yellow flag at which time teams may elect to pit for fuel, tires and normal chassis adjustments. Teams pitting will not retain their position on the race track and will restart at the rear of the field in the order they left pit road.

The field will consist of 25 drivers from the following categories:

Race Winners: Michael Waltrip, Dale Jarrett, Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte, Ricky Craven, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Joe Nemechek, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Robby Gordon, Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick, Terry Labonte, Bill Elliott, Elliott Sadler and Rusty Wallace.

Owner's Exemption: Kasey Kahne via car owner Ray Evernham (2003 Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400 at North Carolina Speedway) and Brian Vickers via car owner Rick Hendrick (2003 Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond International Raceway)

Previous All-Star Challenge Winners: Geoffrey Bodine (1994) and Mark Martin (1998)

Transfer Drivers: The Winston Open winner and one driver via an online fan vote.

The All-Star Challenge gets underway on Sat., May 22 at 9 p.m. EDT. The FX network will carry live coverage of the event.