Labonte Qualifies 17th in Cup; 35th in Trucks at Martinsville

MARTINSVILLE, Va., Friday, Oct. 22, 2004 – Bobby Labonte qualified 17th during Bud Pole Qualifying Oct. 22 at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Va.

Labonte turned a lap of 19.818 seconds, 95.549 mph in the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet.

“I wish we could have run a little bit better, obviously,” Labonte said. “I just couldn’t quite get on the gas like I needed to. That kind of goes back to what goes a little bit faster. I just wasn’t able to do it. Hopefully, we’ll be able to be good in the race, and we’ll see. I haven’t qualified good here in a long time.”

Labonte will start on the inside of Row 9 next to veteran Jimmie Johnson. Labonte’s teammate, Tony Stewart, qualified 13th in The Home Depot Chevrolet with a lap of 19.794, 95.665.

Bud Qualifying for the Kroger 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event was canceled due to rain. Labonte will start the race in 35th.

The Kroger 200 starts at 1 p.m. and will be broadcast live on SpeedChannel and MRN.

The Subway 500 starts at 1 p.m. (EDT), and will be broadcast live on NBC and MRN.