Labonte Finishes 18th at New Hampshire - Falls to 14th in Points

LOUDON, N.H., Sunday, Sept. 19, 2004 – Bobby Labotne finished a disappointing 18th in the Sylvania 300 Sept. 19 at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, N.H.

The finish caused him to drop to 14th in points.

“We just didn’t have the speed to get up front,” Labonte said. “The car was tight at the beginning, and it got a little bit better throughout the day, but we just didn’t have anything for the guys up front.”

Labonte started 13th after qualifying was canceled Friday due to rain. He fell to 20th by Lap 8, but moved up to seventh after deciding not to pit on Lap 20, when the first caution came out.

Unfortunately, seventh was the best Labonte would be throughout the day. After he made his first pit stop of the day on Lap 37, he managed only to get as high as 16th on Lap 201 of the 300-lap event.

“It’s frustrating, but we’re not giving up,” Labonte said. “We going to keep working and gathering information and try to finish strong in the final nine races.”

Labonte fell to 14th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings, 85 points behind 11th-place Jamie McMurray and 22 points behind 13th-place Kevin Harvick.

The next NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series event is the MBNA America 400 Sept. 26 at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del. Labonte, who’s car will carry primary sponsorship from MBNA in that event, finished 25th at the track in June.

The race starts at 1 p.m. (EDT), and will be broadcast live on TNT and MRN.