Labonte Leads Petty Team with Fourth-Fastest Qualifying Lap at Atlanta

HAMPTON, Ga. (March 17, 2006) – Bobby Labonte flashed some of the magic that’s produced six career victories at Atlanta Motor Speedway during his qualifying laps Friday evening. The driver of the No. 43 Cheerios / Betty Crocker Dodge warmed up a cold winter night with a hot lap of 191.914 miles per hour, securing the No. 4 starting position for Sunday’s Golden Corral 500.

Labonte will line up on the outside of the second row, alongside Jeff Burton. The front row will consist of pole-sitter Kasey Kahne and No. 2 qualifier Ryan Newman.

Kyle Petty, Labonte’s teammate, will start 32nd in the No. 45 National Tire & Battery Dodge after posting a top lap of 188.398 mph.

“Our guys did a great job today,” Labonte said. “Now, we’ve got to work just as hard to get the car into race trim. I know the last two weeks have been tough; so hopefully, we can rebound here in Atlanta. I’m not going to say that we’ll end up in Victory Lane, but we’d sure like to. We need to continue seeing consistency throughout the season. That’s the biggest thing we have to do, right now.”

It is Labonte’s second top-10 start in four races this year. He qualified eighth for the season-opening Daytona 500 last month. Raybestos® Rookie contender J.J. Yeley rounded out Friday’s top five. Positions 6-10 were occupied by Kevin Harvick, who qualified sixth; rookie Denny Hamlin, seventh; Greg Biffle, eighth; Kurt Busch, ninth; and Casey Mears, who will start 10th.

Sunday’s race is scheduled to start at 1:40 p.m. (EST) and will be televised live by FOX, whose pre-race coverage will begin at 1 p.m. The radio broadcast can be heard on the Performance Racing Network.