Labonte Fights Tight Race Car to Finish Seventh at Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., July 3, 2004 Bobby Labonte finished seventh in the Pepsi 400 July 3 at Daytona International Speedway driving the No. 18 Wellbutrin XL (bupropion HCl)Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing.

The finish was his ninth top-10 finish of the season and moved him into sixth place in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings. The finish marked the sixth time in eight Pepsi 400s that Labonte has finished in the top 10.

We got a top ten which is good, Labonte said. We moved up in the points. The car was tight for most of the night, but the guys worked on the car, and we got a good result.

Labonte started 15th in the race after originally qualifying 16th during Bud Pole Qualifying on July 1. The qualification run of Elliott Sadler, who qualified ahead of Labonte, was disallowed due to a rules violation, so Labonte moved up one spot in the order.

After waiting out a more than 2 hour rain delay, Labonte and the rest of the field finally got on track just after 9:45 p.m. (EDT) when the race was started under a green/yellow condition, which meant cars were running under caution, but with the laps counting toward the 160 needed for the 400-mile distance. On Lap 9, at 9:56 p.m., the field finally saw the green flag and Labonte, fighting a tight race car, fell back to 27th place by Lap 14.

As has been typical of the team in 2004, Labonte and the crew worked on the car throughout each pit stop, making the car better each time and by just past the halfway point on Lap 86, where running in the top 10.

Labonte hung around the 10th position until he made his final pit stop under green on Lap 138. After all the teams had completed pit stops on Lap 142, Labonte was in ninth-place, 3.5 seconds behind the lead car.

Within 10 laps, Labonte had moved to sixth-place and was only .836 seconds behind the leader.

Unfortunately, that was as high as he could get before falling to seventh a few laps later.

When the 160th lap was completed, Labonte was in seventh and Jeff Gordon was the winner.

Labonte is now sixth in points, trailing leader Jimmie Johnson by 381 points and trailing fifth-place Matt Kenseth by 25 points.

The next NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series event is the Tropicana 400 July 11 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. The race begins at 3:30 p.m. (EDT) and will be broadcast live on NBC and MRN.