Labonte Finishes Third in Truck Series Race at Martinsville

Jamie McMurray won the event, while Labonte’s teammate, Dennis Setzer, finished second.

“We didn’t get to qualify, so we had to start 35th, but we had a good Silverado all weekend,” Labonte said. “Wish we could have gotten by Jamie (McMurray) there at the end, but he had a fast truck. I had a great time out there today.”

Although he started in the last row, Labonte quickly worked his way up through the field and was ninth by Lap 52. Ten cautions slowed the race and Labonte and his crew, led by crew chief Randy Goss, decided to pit during the fifth caution on Lap 61, in what they’d hoped would be their only pit stop of the day.

The strategy worked, as Labonte didn’t have to pit the rest of the day, and finally cracked the top-five on Lap 141. He moved to fourth by Lap 146 and when leaders Jack Sprague and Travis Kvapil crashed on Lap 175, Labonte found himself in third position, behind McMurray and Setzer, who slipped past him while avoiding the accident.

“Randy made a great call to pit early, and we gained track position,” Labonte said. “We weren’t as fast as a few guys, but we were fast enough to pass people once we were in the clear. The crew did a great job all day long. This was all Randy’s call and why this was such successful effort. It was great to get a Chevrolet two and three.

“Chevrolet put this All-Star program together and asked some of us last winter if we wanted to participate,” Labonte said. “It was great fun to race this No. 47 Acxiom truck. I would jump at the chance to get back in this truck if they do the program again.”

Ironically, Labonte and Setzer, who is now leading the truck series point standings, battled toward the end of the event. In the late 1980’s, the two drivers battled in late-model cars at Caraway Speedway in Ashboro, N.C. Labonte was the 1987 track champion, while Setzer won three consecutive titles in 1988-90.

“It was fun to race with my old buddy Dennis Setzer as a teammate,” Labonte said. “We went to Caraway and tested last week and if some of the old fans from the ‘80s saw us climbing in and out of each others trucks, they wouldn’t have believed it, because in those old days everyone thought we hated each other. We didn’t, but that is what the fans thought. He’s a great guy, and it was a lot of fun to race him again.”

Labotne was third in NEXTEL Cup Happy Hour practice prior to the truck race. He turned a lap of 19.755 seconds, 95.854 mph.

“Our Cup cars handle a little bit differently than these trucks with the different power to weight ratio because of the torque,” Labonte said. “I think for 200 laps, we are going to be OK, but our setup isn’t going to be the same. I think it will be a different race than we have seen here in the past. It was good for me to get to race two races back-to-back. I think that part will help with where we seem to be missing something on the (NEXTEL) Cup side. The track time always helps me, no matter where we are. It was a little difficult to pass out there.”

Labonte will start on the inside of Row 9 next to veteran Jimmie Johnson in the Subway 500.

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