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DHL 400 Pre-Race Notes and Quotes
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C., Tuesday, June 15, 2004 The following are DHL 400 pre-race notes and quotes for Bobby Labonte, driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing.
DHL 400 PRE-RACE NOTES:
Labonte will attempt to start his 24th race at historic Michigan International Speedway. He won both races at the legendary track in 1995 and won the 1999 fall race.
In 23 starts at Michigan, Labonte has nine top-five finishes and has won the Bud Pole, four times, including capturing both poles in 2003.
Labonte has 14 career top 10 finishes at MIS in 23 starts (60 percent). Between the 1993 fall race and the 2000 fall race, Labonte finished in the top 10 in 13 of 15 races, including nine consecutive races from the fall race in 1996 through the fall race of 2000.
In 2003, Labonte won both Bud Poles at Michigan and finished second in the spring race, finishing just .774 of a second behind winner Kurt Busch. Labonte finished a disappointing 37th in the fall race, falling out after 140 laps with engine problems.
After finishing third at Pocono, Labonte moved from eighth to sixth in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings. He has 1,812 points and his 301 behind leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. He is 42 points behind fifth-place Tony Stewart, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate.
The primary car for the DHL 400 is No. 87, the car Labonte drove to second place with March 21 at Darlington and the car he won the Bud Pole with April 2 at Texas. He finished fifth with the car at May 2 at California and finished 13th with the chassis May 30 at Charlotte. Labonte also used the car at the fall race at Atlanta in 2003, where he started second and finished fifth.
The back-up car will be No. 62, the car Labonte drove in All-Star events at Charlotte in 2003 (third-place finish) and 2004 (13th-place finish). The car was also used at the first Pocono event in 2003 when Labonte finished 16th.
DHL 400 PRE-RACE QUOTE:
BOBBY LABONTE (No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet; 2000 NASCAR Champion): Michigan has always been my favorite track. It just has everything going for it. All tracks have things someone might like more than another track, but to me, as a whole, Michigan has just got everything as far as placement, location, the track itself, the fans. A little bit of everything just seems like it goes a long way there. Its always a treat to go to Michigan, and when you run good there it helps. (About winning both poles in 2003): We were on a roll there at that part of the year, and we were able to win both poles there last year and ran really good in those races. But, I would trade those two poles for two victories. Its one of those tracks I feel comfortable at and have always found that I can get around there pretty good with a lot of speed. |
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