Long Season Contiues for Labonte; Finishes 20th at Atlanta

Photo © 2004 Robert McCarty

MARTINSVILLE, Va., Sunday, Oct. 24, 2004 – Bobby Labonte finished 20th in the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 Oct. 31 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga.

Jimmie Johnson won the event, his third consecutive victory, while Labonte and the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Racing Team continued to struggle in the second half of the 2004 season. Labonte has finished between 16th and 20th-place in eight of the ten races.

He started the race in 19th and began fighting a loose-tight condition, which has plagued the team throughout the season. Labonte fell to 32nd by Lap 27 before pitting on Lap 54 for four tires, fuel and tire pressure adjustment.

For the remainder of the race, the car was extremely loose, so much so that Labotne spun exiting Turn 2 on Lap 136. The car did not make contact with the wall and Labonte was able to continue on, completing 323 of the 325 laps.

“The car was just really loose throughout the whole day,” Labonte said. “We even ended up spinning out at one point. It’s frustrating for sure. The second half of the year has been tough. We just need to finish out strong in the last three races.”

After finishing 20th, Labonte fell to 15th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings with 3,864 points. He is three points behind 14th-place Kevin Harvick and 251 points ahead of 16th-place Jeff Burton.

The next NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series event is the Checker Auto Parts 500 Nov. 7 at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Ariz. The race starts at 3 p.m. (EST), and will be broadcast live on NBC and MRN.