Top-Five Run for Labonte and Black No. 21 Chevy Team Race/Date: Nicorette 300/March 8, 2008 Location: Atlanta Motor Speedway/Hampton, Ga. Start Position: 27th (based on 2007 owner points due to snow cancelling qualifying) Finish Position: Fifth Bobby Labonte’s veteran patience in dialing in the handling of RCR’s No. 21 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS paid off with a fifth-place finish in the Nicorette 300 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The run was the first top-five and second top-10 finish in the No. 21 team’s first four races in 2008. Stephen Leicht earned a 10th-place finish two weeks ago at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. The No. 21 team is currently scheduled to compete in 17 races this season, a dozen more with Labonte and one more with Leicht at the controls. Snow in the greater Atlanta area cancelled Saturday morning’s qualifying session, placing the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing (RCR) Chevrolet 27th on the starting grid based on 2007 NASCAR Nationwide Series final owner points. The green flag waved at 2:19 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) under cold, windy and partly cloudy skies. Labonte immediately went to work making his way to the front and, despite two early caution periods, was 15th on lap 30 of the scheduled 195-lap race when he brought the black No. 21 Chevrolet down pit road for service. Quick service by the RCR over-the-wall crew, including fuel, fresh Goodyear tires and a chassis adjustment for a slightly loose-handling condition, went for naught when the car pitted just in front of Labonte was too far away from the wall and blocked an easy exit. Fortunately, he returned to the racing service in the same position he originally left it. Green-flag racing resumed on lap 33 and the 1991 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion had moved up one spot, to 14th, before the third caution flag waved on lap 49. Crew chief Shane Wilson chose to leave Labonte on the track which picked up Labonte one spot when racing resumed on lap 53. Labonte moved into 10th by lap 58, ninth six laps later, eighth on lap 66 and seventh on lap 69. The No. 21 Chevy came down pit road under green on lap 87 for service that included fuel and fresh Goodyear tires with air pressure adjustments. Labonte was running 11th at the race’s scheduled halfway point after the field cycled through the green-flag stops. The day’s fourth caution came out just two laps later and Wilson again chose to keep Labonte on the racing surface. Green-flag racing returned on lap 107 and the 10-time Nationwide Series winner maintained position despite a loose-handling race car. Labonte maintained position in the top 10 over the next 35 laps and was ninth when the day’s fifth caution period began on lap 142. The 2000 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion asked for further adjustments to correct the loose-handling race car which the RCR pit crew did with pinpoint accuracy which picked up a position on pit road. Racing began again on lap 147 and Labonte, over the next 40+ laps and two caution periods, moved his way into fifth place. Two cautions, and a nearly eight minute red flag session, in the race’s final seven scheduled laps forced a three-lap bonus round and no time for Labonte to pick up any more positions. Matt Kenseth took the checkered flag 0.159-second ahead of Kevin Harvick, RCR’s Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards and Labonte. Labonte’s other RCR teammate, Clint Bowyer, finished 19th. The NASCAR Nationwide Series moves next to Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway for the March 15 Sharpie Mini 300. The fifth of 35 scheduled races in 2008 will again find Bobby Labonte behind wheel of the No. 21 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS. Race coverage will be televised live on ESPN2 beginning at 2:30 p.m. EDT. The race will also be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network (PRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying will air tape-delayed Saturday on SPEED beginning at noon EDT. BOBBY LABONTE – NO. 21 CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO SS – “We struggled a bit finding the handle on the black No. 21 but I think I was fighting myself more than anything. I couldn’t feel the right-front tire and so I wasn’t able to drive into the turns hard enough. Shane and the guys were getting it better as the race went on but we struggled on the restarts and needed a long run at the end. The green-white-checkered finish really didn’t make a difference to where we were going to finish.”