Richmond Preview

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Rock & Roll 400
Richmond (Va.) International Raceway
September 6, 2008

Quotes from Bobby Labonte:

“I saw an improvement in our car at California. It wasn’t as noticeable because the ‘48’ just ran away from everybody, but I was happy with our car. Those tracks have been the one area of our team that we needed to shore up and we have been able to do that over the last couple of races. This was a new car and we had a good test with it at Kentucky before going to Fontana. A lot of the stuff that we learned should translate to other tracks that we have left on the schedule.”

“Just like every other team in this series, we wanted to be in position to wrap up a spot in the ‘Chase’ this weekend at Richmond. It’s been a little frustrating for everyone that we weren’t able to do that. We’re not where we want to be in points, but we’re focused on a bigger picture. The Boston Ventures partnership has been great for Petty Enterprises. We’re becoming a stronger organization every day. It just takes time, but we’re committed to doing this the right way. Petty Enterprises is still the most successful team in NASCAR history and everyone here is going to make sure we get back to that level of success.”

“We need more tracks like Richmond on the schedule. There is no doubt that it’s one of the most exciting tracks that we go to. It just promotes good, hard racing. What’s great about it is all of the room you have. It is a lot like a speedway, especially in the corners, because they are high speed and you can run a number of different lines. It would make for a great place to hold a ‘Chase’ race.”

Bobby Labonte at Richmond International Raceway


* Labonte qualified tenth for this race last year. It was his 13th top-10 start at the .75-mile track. He started from the pole at RIR in 1993.

* Labonte’s best finish at Richmond is second, which he has scored twice, in 1999 and 2003.

* In 31 visits to RIR, Labonte has amassed four top-5s and has finished within the top-10 on 10 occasions.

* His most recent top-10 finish at the D-shaped oval came in 2005 when he finished eighth. His most recent top-5 was in 2004 when he finished third.

* Of a possible 12,403 laps at Richmond, Labonte has completed 12,224 (98.6%), including 161 laps led. His average start at the track is 16.8 and average finish is 17.1.