Tropicana 400 Pre-Race Notes and Quotes

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C., Tuesday, July 6, 2004 - The following are Tropicana 400 pre-race notes and quotes for Bobby Labonte, driver of the No. 18 Wellbutrin XL (bupropion HCl) Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing.


TROPICANA 400 PRE-RACE NOTES:

Wellbutrin XL, a medicine indicated for the treatment of major depressive disorder in patients 18 years and older, will serve as the primary sponsor for the No. 18 Chevrolet this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway. Wellbutrin XL served as primary sponsor March 28 at Bristol, April 25 at Talladega and July 3 at Daytona and will serve as the main sponsor at Michigan (Aug. 22), California (Sept. 5), Richmond (Sept. 11) and Atlanta (Oct. 31).

Labonte will attempt to start his fourth race at Chicagoland Speedway. He has never scored a victory in NEXTEL Cup competition at Chicagoland and has had little luck at the 1.5-mile track. His best finish at Chicagoland is 18th in 2002 and his other finishes have been 39th (2001, engine problem) and 36th (2003, accident).

His best start at Chicagoland is 12th in 2002. Chicagoland is the only track on the circuit that Labonte has failed to start or finish in the top 10.

In the 2003 Tropicana 400, Labonte started 18th and finished 36th. He was involved in a fiery accident on Lap 212 of the 267 lap race.

Labonte finished seventh in the July 3rd Pepsi 400 at Daytona. He moved from seventh to sixth in the NEXTEL Cup point standings and has 2,164 points. He trails leader Jimmie Johnson by 381 points and fifth-place Matt Kenseth by 25 points.

Labonte has five top-five and nine top-10 finishes in 2004.

The primary car for the Tropicana 400 is Chassis 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, finished 13th May 30 at Charlotte and finished eighth June 21 at Michgian. 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 Chassis 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.

TROPICANA 400 PRE-RACE QUOTE:

           BOBBY LABONTE (No. 18 Wellbutrin XL Chevrolet; 2000 NASCAR Champion): "We got another top 10 at Daytona, but we'd really like to get that first win of the season. I think Tony (Stewart) and I would both like to do that. We haven't had much luck at Chicagoland and last year with the fire and all that, wasn't a whole lot of fun. We've had a lot of success at the 1.5-mile tracks, but Chicago has not been one of them, for sure, so we'd like to turn that around this weekend."