Labonte Finishes 11th at Watkins Glen, Falls to 9th in Points

INDIANAPOLIS, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2004 – Bobby Labonte finished 11th in the Sirius at the Glen Aug. 15 at Watkins Glen International Speedway in Watkins Glen, N.Y.

Tony Stewart, Labonte’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, won the event.

Labonte, driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet, started eighth and ran as high as fifth and a low as 26th, before coming home in 11th.

“We had a good day,” Labonte said. “The car was really pretty good at the beginning, but got really loose before the final pit stop.”

Labonte was in 19th place on Lap 74 when, under caution, he and crew chief Brandon Thomas debated whether to fix the loose race car, and risk loosing several track positions, or to stay out with the loose race car.

The decision was made to pit and the stop proved successful. Because many in the field decided to pit, Labonte actually came out one spot ahead and managed to move up seven spots over the final 15 laps under green.

“We made a good call there at the end,” Labonte said. “It’s as simple as, we came in 19th and finished in 11th, so it was a good call.”

Despite the near top-10 finish, Labonte fell one spot in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings, moving from eighth to ninth. Kevin Harvick, who finished sixth in the race, moved to eighth, just three points ahead of Labonte. Labonte has 2,714 points and his 429 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson. Last week, Labonte was 511 points behind Johnson, but a transmission problem caused Johnson to finish 40th.

The next NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series event is the GFS Marketplace 400 Aug. 22 at historic Michigan International Speedway. Labonte finished eighth at the track back in June. The race starts at 1:30 p.m. (EDT), and will be broadcast live on TNT and MRN.