Labonte, Petty come up empty in year's first trip west

FONTANA, Calif. (Feb. 26, 2006) – The long trip to California for the first west coast race of the 2006 season proved to be less than fruitful for Petty Enterprises as both Bobby Labonte and Kyle Petty finished off the lead lap in Sunday’s Auto Club 500 at California Speedway.

Labonte finished 31st in the No. 43 Cheerios / Betty Crocker Dodge, two laps down to Kenseth, who recorded his 11th career victory. Petty placed 25th in the Wells Fargo Dodge, one lap down to race winner Matt Kenseth.

Each of the Petty team cars was plagued by a tight-handling chassis in the early going of the 250-lap chase. In Kyle’s case, adjustments helped the handling of the No. 45 Intrepid and he was able to improve 14 positions from his No. 39 starting spot.

Labonte, on the other hand, never was able to find the proper balance on the No. 43 Dodge and he ultimately fell two laps off the pace by race’s end.

After Kenseth, the remainder of the top five consisted of series points leader Jimmie Johnson, who finished second; Carl Edwards, third; Kasey Kahne, fourth; and Jeff Burton, fifth. Pole-sitter Kurt Busch placed 16th.

Petty and Labonte are sitting 34th and 35th, respectively, in the NEXTEL Cup Series standings heading into the next race on the schedule, the March 12 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.