Labonte 23rd at Bristol

FINAL RESULTS:
1. Matt Kenseth, Ford
2. Kyle Busch, Chevrolet
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet
4. Scott Riggs, Dodge
5. Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet
23. Bobby Labonte, #43 Hamburger Helper Dodge
34. Kyle Petty, #45 Marathon/American Spirit Motor Oil Dodge

OVERVIEW:

BRISTOL, TN (August 26, 2006) - Bobby Labonte and the #43 Hamburger Helper Dodge team had their best starting position of the season for Saturday night’s Sharpie 500 at the .533-mile Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. Labonte and the team qualified third. The team lined up on the inside of the second row for the start of the race on the high-banked oval. Labonte raced in the top-10 for the majority of the first 100 laps. Labonte was fighting a lack of grip with his Hamburger Helper Dodge, but was running a strong 13th on lap 102. Labonte continued to stay on the lead lap while many competitors were being run down by a strong running Burton in the middle stages of the race. Labonte was inside the top-20, but his car was tight as the team battled the last 200 laps. Labonte was still one of the faster cars on the track at the end of the long 500-lap race and finished 23rd. Labonte remained 25th in championship points less than 10 points out of 24th.

“We had a great day on Friday,” said Labonte. “We couldn’t get the grip we needed and fought some handling at the end tonight. It’s a fast car and we proved that. We just needed to be a little better at the end of the race. We’ll keep working hard.”

Kyle Petty and the Marathon/American Spirit Motor Oil Dodge team also had their best starting spot of the season on Friday. Petty clocked the eighth fastest time on Friday and had a good view of the front for the start of the race. Petty fell into the top-10 and was running strong in the opening laps. A caution caused by Sterling Marlin had teams hitting pit road for the first time before lap 40 and that’s where the Marathon/American Spirit Motor Oil Dodge team ran into bad luck. A pit crew violation for coming onto pit road too early forced Petty to start at the end of the longest line. Petty was forced back to 32nd on the restart and on lap 89 spun into the wall as he was passing cars on his way back to the front. The car suffered cosmetic damage, but the Paul Andrews led crew had the car back into action as quickly as possible. Petty was 42nd after rejoining the race, but the quick and affective work made it possible for Petty to climb to 34th at the end of the night.

Matt Kenseth is making winning a habit. Kenseth, the winner of last weekend’s race at the Michigan International Speedway, returned back to victory lane. Kenseth won Friday night’s Busch Series race at the same track and completed his first weekend sweep in his career on Saturday night. Kenseth, who started fourth, had a strong car all night, but had to win the race on pit road. Jeff Burton led the most laps, but was passed by Kenseth with a little over 50 laps to go. A caution came out and put Kenseth, Burton and the rest of the leaders on pit road. Kenseth came out first followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the rest of the field. Kenseth pulled away for the win on the restart. Kyle Busch got past Earnhardt Jr. for second and Burton had to settle for ninth.

The Nextel Cup Series now heads to the two-mile California Speedway for Sunday’s 500-mile race. The race will be televised on TNT at 7:00 p.m.