Labonte Qualifies 5th for Banquet 400

KANSAS CITY, Kansas., Friday, Oct. 8, 2004 – Bobby Labonte qualified fifth during Bud Pole Qualifying Oct. 8 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan.

Labonte turned a lap of 30.186 seconds, 178.891 mph in the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet. It was the second time in three weeks that Labonte has qualified in the top 10. He qualified sixth at Dover.

“The car is pretty good,” Labonte said. “The guys did a really good job. We came out here and tested a couple of weeks ago and didn’t make any qualifying runs. But, we felt like we had a good car then and we backed it up with a good run so far here today. We’ve been lacking a little bit on that qualifying. We picked that up and hopefully we’re making the curve a little bit and going uphill instead of downhill.”

Labonte will start on the inside of Row 3 next to veteran Greg Biffle. Labonte’s teammate, Tony Stewart, qualified 24th in The Home Depot Chevrolet with a lap of 30.479, 177.171.

The Banquet 400 will start at 2:30 p.m. (EDT) Oct. 10 and be broadcast live on NBC and MRN.