Labonte Survives Bristol, Remains Ninth in Points
BRISTOL, Tenn., Saturday,
Aug. 28, 2004 – Despite being involved in a multi-car accident
with just a little more than 100 laps to go in the Sharpie 500,
Bobby Labonte managed to finish 16th Aug. 28 at Bristol Motor Speedway
and remains ninth in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup points.
Labonte started
19th in the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet and ran as high
as second during pit-stop cycles, but, like everyone else, had trouble
keeping up with eventual winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. Only seven of
the 43 cars managed to complete all 500 laps, while Labonte finished
two laps down.
“It wasn’t
bad,” Labonte said. “I mean, it was tight, loose, tight,
loose. We fought it.”
On Lap 389,
Labonte, Rusty Wallace, Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne, and Labonte’s
teammate Tony Stewart were involved in an accident on the backstretch.
Labonte’s car suffered minor damage to the right rear when
he made contact with the inside retaining wall. He was force to
pit on three consecutive laps under caution to make repairs, but
was able to resume racing.
“We dodged
a couple of wrecks and then were involved in a wreck with about
100 (laps) to go and that hurt us a little bit,” Labonte said.
“But, we still came home 16th. It could have been a lot worse
after that wreck.”
Labonte and
the team have struggled a bit in recent weeks, but still have two
weeks left before the final cut for the “Chase for the NEXTEL
Cup.
“I can’t
put my finger on it,” Labonte said. “I know it’s
not anybody’s fault. The guys are doing a great job. Brandon
(Thomas, interim crew chief) is doing a great job. Chris (Gayle)
our engineer is doing a great job. Everybody on our race team is
doing a great job. We’ve got great racecars, I just can’t
seem to find speed out of the racecar right now and that’s
one thing that hurting me.
“I know
it’s not their fault, and I just wish I could find it. I know
we’re going to test our tail off and we’re going to do
all sorts of things to figure it out. And, we’re not going
to stop and we’re not going to quit at it. But, it is frustrating,
whether it’s the ‘Chase for the NEXTEL Cup’ with
two races to go or 10 races into the deal and were finishing like
this, we’re not going to be happy. So, I’m not happy with
my performance, and I want to get better and figure out why we can’t
go any faster than we’re going. Hopefully we can figure that
out.”
Labonte remained
ninth in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings for the third consecutive
week. Kevin Harvick, who had to be replaced at the midway point
in Saturday’s race due to numbness in his right arm, is only
four points ahead of Labonte, while Ryan Newman is just one point
behind Labonte. The difference in points between eighth-place Harvick
and 15th-place Jamie McMurray is only 50 points.
The next NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup Series event is the Pop Secret 500 Sunday night, Sept.
3 at California Speewday. Labonte finished fifth at the track back
in May, but was in second place on the final lap when he ran out
of fuel. The race starts at 7 p.m. (EDT), and will be broadcast
live on NBC and MRN.
|
