Labonte to start 6th at Chicagoland

QUALIFYING RESULTS:

1. Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 29.728 seconds, 181.647 miles per hour
2. Brian Vickers, Chevrolet, 29.782 seconds, 181.318 miles per hour
3. Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 29.886 seconds, 180.687 miles per hour
4. Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 29.930 seconds, 180.421 miles per hour
5. Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 29.935 seconds, 180.391 miles per hour
6. Bobby Labonte, Dodge, 29.939 seconds, 180.367 miles per hour
33. Kyle Petty, Dodge, 30.509 seconds, 176.997 miles per hour

Petty Enterprises had another strong qualifying effort Friday. Labonte and the #43 Chex Most Popular Driver Dodge qualified sixth at the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway for Sunday’s USG Sheetrock 400. Jeff Burton won his second pole of the season and first since the Daytona 500. Brian Vickers, one of the recently named Red Bull Toyota drivers for 2007, qualified second. Qualifying took place Friday under sunny skies and warm temperatures. A later qualifying draw helped many teams as the track was cooler.

Labonte and the #43 Chex Most Popular Driver Dodge qualified inside the top-10 for the fifth time in the season’s first 18 races. Labonte’s best qualifying effort is fourth at Atlanta. Labonte led that race and Chicagoland is a similar track to Atlanta. Labonte is looking for his fourth top-10 finish on Sunday.

“We picked up since practice and the track is cooling down,” said Labonte. “We got a good draw and that helped. Hopefully we’ll have a good car on Sunday. I feel good about the car. The guys did a good job today. We’re working hard and knocking on some doors. It is good momentum.”

Petty and the #45 Wells Fargo Dodge team qualified 33rd for Sunday’s race. Petty was one of the first five cars to qualify. The track was very hot and it hurt the team’s final qualifying position. Petty and the Wells Fargo Dodge team, however, had a very good qualifying run. Petty picked up from his earlier practice speed.

“I couldn’t leave anything on the table today,” said Petty. “The guys did a good job getting this car ready for qualifying. We worked on about three or four different race setups for Sunday. We picked up in qualifying and that’s good.”

Sunday’s race will be televised live nationally on TNT and broadcast on MRN Radio. Race coverage begins at 3:00pm (EST).