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| Bobby and The Weather Channel's Jim Cantore give their forecast for Sunday's weather at Atlanta Motor Speedway. |
HAMPTON, Ga. (March 20, 2006) – After showing plenty of muscle by leading early in the race, Bobby Labonte’s No. 43 Cheerios/Pillsbury Bake-Off Dodge was sidelined by engine failure after completing just 56 of the 325 laps in the rain-delayed Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
After starting fourth in the 43-car field, Labonte (a six-time winner at AMS) jumped out to lead a total of 13 laps. He took charge by diving low in the corners and picking off the three cars directly in front of him. On the second lap, he moved into second place. By lap three, he passed Ryan Newman to take the lead.
Following the first caution period of the day and a round of pit stops, Labonte restarted in third place – trailing Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle – and soon reported that his No. 43 Dodge was starting to slide the right front tire through the corners. When the second caution flag flew on lap 43, Labonte brought the car down pit road for another four-tire change and restarted in fifth.
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It was less than 10 laps after that when Labonte slowed coming off the second turn, victimized by engine failure.
“It’s OK, guys,” Labonte said. “We got it up-front, there, and had a great run. Everybody keep your head up on this one.”
For Kyle Petty, waiting an extra day to run the Golden Corral 500 was well worth it. The driver of the No. 45 National Tire & Battery (NTB) Dodge rallied from his No. 32 starting position with a late charge toward the front of the field and came away with an eighth-place finish, his first top-ten since Dover (Fall) of 2005.
The race was won by pole-sitter Kasey Kahne; with the rest of the top five comprised of Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart.
The next race on the schedule will be the March 26 Food City 500 in Bristol, Tenn. Qualifying will be held Friday, March 24.
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