Dover Race Report - Neighborhood Excellence 400

Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge
Neighborhood Excellence 400
June 4, 2006; Dover, Delaware
One-mile, Dover International Speedway

FINAL RESULTS:
1. Matt Kenseth, Ford
2. Jamie McMurray, Ford
3. Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet
4. Jeff Burton, Chevrolet
5. Kyle Busch, Chevrolet
13. Bobby Labonte, #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge
27. Kyle Petty #45 Wells Fargo Dodge

OVERVIEW:

Bobby Labonte and the #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge team barely missed another top-10 finish while Kyle Petty and the #45 Wells Fargo Dodge team stayed strong after fighting handling woes during Sunday’s Neighborhood Excellence 400 at the one-mile Dover (Del.) International Speedway. Matt Kenseth won the event after using fresh tires to pass Jamie McMurray in the final three laps of Sunday’s race. It is Kenseth’s second win of the season.

Labonte and the #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge team started Sunday’s race 28th . Labonte, a former winner at Dover, quickly showed the strength of his Cheerios Dodge. Labonte picked off car after car and climbed as high as 12th. Labonte was happy with the car early and it showed. The early and middle stages of Sunday’s race went green, thus teams didn’t have many chances to adjust. In fact, the race was slowed only twice in the first 260 laps for cautions.

Todd (crew chief Todd Parrott ) prepared for a run to the finish. Labonte’s car, however, became a bit tight. Labonte stayed on the lead lap as long as possible before falling one lap down. Labonte wasn’t there long, and after receiving the “lucky dog”, Labonte was again a top contender on the lead lap. Parrott continued to make adjustments and Labonte made another charge in the final 50 laps. He closed in on the top-10 and finished 13th at the end of the day.

“It wasn’t a bad day for this Cheerios Dodge team,” said Labonte. “We were good early and probably the best in the middle stage. It was a pretty good day. We picked up some spots in the points (currently 24th ), but we’ll keep working harder.”

Petty and the #45 Wells Fargo Dodge team started their race from the 35th starting spot. Petty, like many other competitors, was tight at the start of the race. The team, led by crew chief Paul Andrews , quickly went to work strategizing a plan to make the car handle better for Petty. The problem, however, was lack of opportunities. The long green flag runs made it impossible for teams to make adjustments under the caution.

Eventually the race changed. There were seven cautions in the final 150 laps. The slow laps gave Petty and the Wells Fargo team a chance to make changes. Andrews made handling adjustments and Petty picked up positions at the end. Petty finished 27th .

“We lost the balance of the car a little bit,” said Petty. “It was a bit cloudy on Friday and it rained on Saturday. Today, you didn’t see much of anything but the sun. There were a lot of guys trying to find their way around. We were tight, but I don’t think we were the only ones. We did a good job of getting it better and picking up some positions at the end.”

The NASCAR Nextel Cup Series now heads to the 2.5-mile Pocono (Penn.) Raceway for Sunday’s Pocono 500.