Top-ten for Labonte at Pocono

FINAL RESULTS:
1. Denny Hamlin, Chevrolet
2. Kurt Busch, Dodge
3. Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet
4. Brian Vickers, Chevrolet
5. Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet
8. Bobby Labonte, #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge
42. Kyle Petty, #45 Kyle Petty Charity Ride Dodge

OVERVIEW:

Bobby Labonte and the #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge team posted their fourth top-10 finish of the season on Sunday. Labonte started Sunday’s race 27th, but found himself behind a fast Cheerios Dodge early. NASCAR mandated a caution period on lap 20 during the race after Saturday’s practice was rained out. Labonte came out of the pits in the 22nd position by that early mark. The next caution period crew chief Todd Parrott elected to take two tires. That gave Labonte the track position he needed. Labonte settled into the top-15 and top-10 where he raced most of the middle stages of the race.

The day, however, didn’t come without some minor problems to overcome. Labonte was forced to move around Jeff Gordon heading down a tight Pocono pit road. Labonte did a half spin, but the “Helping Hands” pit crew were still able to get Labonte back out quickly. Labonte fell back to 17th, but charged through the field. Labonte and the team had another setback on their second to final pit stop of the day. Labonte, along with two other drivers, were sent to the end of the longest line for ‘speeding’ on pit road. Labonte, however, was determined to get back into the top-10. Pit strategy was playing out and many teams had to hit pit road for a quick splash of gas. As they did, Labonte raced into the lead on lap 179 and 180. That’s when the final caution came out and gave the team an opportunity to get fresh tires. Labonte restarted just outside the top-10 and in the closing laps made his charge to eighth.

“We got in the back there, but it ended up being good fortune for us,” said Labonte. “Guys were pitting, but we stayed out and the caution came out. We had fresh tires and the car was better. It was a good finish for us today. The car was ‘OK’, but we’ll take a better one to Indy.”

Petty and the #45 Kyle Petty Charity Ride Dodge had one of their best runs of the season spoiled on Sunday. Petty started Sunday’s race 33rd, but after some early adjustments might have had one of the strongest cars on the track. Petty needed some more ‘grip’ in the car and crew chief Paul Andrews gave Petty what he needed during the mandatory caution. A caution, moments later, Petty got another adjustment that helped him race to as high as 19th. Petty was flying through the field until a tire went down sending him hard into the Turn One wall. Petty was forced to the garage for repairs. The team made the repairs and Petty returned to the track on lap 132. Petty gained one position, the most possible, and finished 42nd.

“We must have run over something,” said Petty. “Goodyear makes a great tire, but when you run over something sharp there isn’t anything you can do. It’s a shame. We were having a pretty good run out there today. We’ll have to get these guys at Indy.”

Denny Hamlin and his Joe Gibbs Racing team have the triangular-shaped 2.5-mile Pocono (Penn.) Raceway figured out. Hamlin, a rookie in the Nextel Cup, swept both Pocono races this season by winning Sunday’s Pennsylvania 500. Hamlin won from the pole in both races and in dominating fashion. Hamlin led 151 laps of Sunday’s 200-lap race. His two Pocono wins are his only two career victories in Nextel Cup. Kurt Busch, who was a runner-up in the June race at Pocono, came home second again on Sunday. Jeff Gordon finished third.

The Nextel Cup Series now heads to the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400 on August 6th.