Labonte Endures Tough Day; Yet Finishes 15th at Indianapolis
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INDIANAPOLIS, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2004 Bobby Labonte endured a long and frustrating day, yet managed to finish 15th and gain one spot in the point standings at the 11th Brickyard 400 Aug. 8 at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Jeff Gordon won the race, scoring his fourth Brickyard 400 victory.
Due to a mechanical problem in qualifying, the Interstate Batteries Team had to change engines and Labonte had to drop to the rear of the field on the pace lap, due to NASCARs one engine rule that states if a team changes engine, they must move to the rear of the field.
After the green flag was shown to the 43-car field, Labontes No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet showed it was ill-handling and remained that way throughout the entire 160-lap, 400-mile race, despite the efforts of the Interstate Batteries Racing team.
Labonte never ran higher than 20th in the first 155 laps and even suffered damage to the left rear of his car on Lap 72 when Kyle Petty made contact with the No. 18 Interstate Chevy in the entrance to Turn 1 when both cars were trying to avoid an accident ahead of them. It took three consecutive pit stops under caution to repair the damage and Labonte returned to the track in 33rd.
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While Labontes car was ill-handling throughout the day, near the end of the race, Labonte reaped the benefits of several contenders having their share of problems and he wound up 15th meaning he was at his highest position of the day on the final lap, the only lap that really counts.
We had a long day, Labonte said. We just didn't hit the right combination today. We were lucky to finish where we did. At least we gained a spot in the points.
Labonte gained one spot in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings, moving from ninth to eighth. He has 2,584 points and his 511 behind leader Jimmie Johnson and 33 points behind seventh-place Kurt Busch.
The next NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series event is the Sirius at the Glen Aug. 15 at Watkins Glen International, the second and final road course race of the season. The race starts at 1:30 p.m. (EDT), and will be broadcast live on TNT and MRN.
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