Bristol Race Report

Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge
Food City 500
March 25, 2007; Bristol, Tennessee
.533-mile, Bristol Motor Speedway

FINAL RESULTS:
1. Kyle Busch, Chevrolet
2. Jeff Burton, Chevrolet
3. Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet
4. Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet
5. Greg Biffle, Ford
20. Kyle Petty, #45 Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil Dodge
22. Bobby Labonte, #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge

OVERVIEW:

Bobby Labonte and the #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge team overcame an early race pit stop penalty and a late race spin to finish 22nd in Sunday’s Food City 500 at the .533-mile Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

Labonte started the afternoon in the 28th position and battled all day. A ‘tight’ handling car, crew chief Paul Andrews had adjustments ready for Labonte on every pit stop. An early race stop, however, put the team at the end of the longest line for a pit road infraction. Labonte picked his way back to the front and maintained a top-25 running position. The team was working hard to overcome the ‘tight’ condition when a wreck in front of Labonte forced him to spin. The car wasn’t damaged and the team was back on track without time lost. Again, Labonte made a charge forward and ended the day 22nd. The Cheerios/Betty Crocker team was awarded for their hard work by advancing three positions in points. Labonte is now 14th in the championship standings.

“This car was just really tight,” said Labonte. “We worked on it all weekend. The guys did a great job on pit road and Paul did a good job making changes. It was a team effort today. We have something to study now. We’re going to do that before Martinsville and see if we can make more progress.”

Kyle Busch goes into the record books. Busch won Sunday’s race in NASCAR’s first ever race with its newly designed car commonly called the ‘Car of Tomorrow’. The much anticipated event resulted in some questions answered, but many still to be determined.

NASCAR’s new ‘Car of Tomorrow’ is a wider, taller car with a splitter on the front and a wing on the rear. Petty Enterprises fields Dodge Avengers in all races at tracks less than a mile-and-a-half, road courses and a superspeedway later this season. The race debut of the cars came to pass Sunday at the demanding Bristol Motor Speedway. Bristol is known for beating, banging and exciting close racing. Sunday’s race, although different, still produced the excitement in years past.

The caution flag flew 15 times during the afternoon for spins, debris and a couple of multi-car accidents. The day’s biggest wreck came on lap 43 when Dale Jarrett was spun. He was then hit by David Gilliland. Both cars had extensive damage. As the race moved forward it was all orange. Tony Stewart’s orange Chevrolet took the lead early on lap 7 and he led for a race high 257 laps. Stewart’s race came to an end when he lost fuel pressure to his car during a pit stop. Stewart was the most dominant car, but ended the day 35th. Once Stewart was out of contention it left the trio of Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick out front leading the field. Each competitor took turns leading the race, but Hamlin came out the best. He led for a total of 177 laps, but was not there at the end. The last few caution periods and pit cycling determined the outcome. Busch stayed out on older tires while Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton both had fresher rubber. The last restart, a green-white-checkered finish, Burton bolted to the outside of Gordon for the pass. Burton made it stick on the outside. He made an inside charge on Busch, but Busch held on for the win. Burton was second, Gordon third and Kevin Harvick completed his good day fourth.

One of the biggest proponents of the new car is Kyle Petty. Petty and the #45 Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil Dodge team had their best run of the season. Petty finished 20th on Sunday and was one of the better cars on the track all afternoon. The team started 26th in Sunday’s race. Petty was consistent and able to stick his #45 Marathon Dodge on the bottom the track. The pace set by Stewart had half the field lapped by mid-race, but Petty remained on the lead lap during that time. The team was ‘bit’ by handling in the middle stages of the race, but the team was still strong. Petty continued to move forward and was 19th with 200 laps to go. Petty remained 19th, 20th or 21st throughout the rest of the race- the rest of the field on the lead lap. Petty was close on several occasions to getting his lap back. The team finished 20th and moved up two positions in points. Petty is 32nd in points.

“All the guys did good,” said Petty. “The car was off on a few runs, but we raced most of them all day today. We weren’t the fastest car, but we were still pretty good. The guys put in a good effort and we got our best results of the season. That’s what we wanted with the new Avenger. I’m proud of the team for that. We’ll continue to work on it and get better.”

The NASCAR Nextel Cup Series heads to the .526-mile Martinsville (Va.) Speedway for next Sunday’s Goody’s Cool Orange 500. The race will be televised live on FOX and broadcast live on MRN Radio.