Richmond Race Report

No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge
September 7, 2008
.75-mile Richmond (Va.) International Raceway

RACE RESULTS:
1. Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet
2. Tony Stewart, Toyota
3. Denny Hamlin, Toyota
4. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Chevrolet
5. Mark Martin, Chevrolet
21. Bobby Labonte, No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge
24. Kyle Petty, No. 45 Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil Dodge

Jimmie Johnson picked up his second consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup victory by holding off Tony Stewart to the checkered flag of the Richmond Rock and Roll 400 at the Richmond International Raceway. The race, originally scheduled for Saturday night, was run during the heat of the day on Sunday.

This race was the final event before the “Chase for the Sprint Cup.” The field is now set for the final ten races. The 12 drivers that will compete for the 2008 championship will enter the ‘playoffs’ seeded as follows:

1. Kyle Busch
2. Carl Edwards
3. Jimmie Johnson
4. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
5. Jeff Burton
6. Tony Stewart
7. Kevin Harvick
8. Greg Biffle
9. Denny Hamlin
10. Jeff Gordon
11. Matt Kenseth
12. Clint Bower

Bobby Labonte and the No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge team finished 21st on Sunday. At the start of the race, Labonte radioed to crew chief Jeff Meendering that he was ‘loose’ getting into the corners, especially under braking. Meendering made several combinations of air pressure, track bar and wedge adjustments to get the car stable when entering the corners. Richmond is a track that you have to attack and being able to charge the corner is crucial for success. Despite the adjustments, Labonte would go down a lap during the early portions of the race. He would get his lap back, via a “Lucky Dog Award,” on lap 211 and would restart 32nd. Needing to pick up valuable track position, Meendering kept Labonte on the track during another caution period on lap 241. Labonte restarted ninth and was able to hold on to 16th place before the next caution came out on lap 296. This picked the team up 16 places on the track. However, on lap 314, Labonte spun coming off the corner. The damage was minimal, but he had to bring the car down pit road for minor body repair. Labonte did a great job in driving the car back up to 21st.

“We were off at the start of the race because this was supposed to be a night race,” said Labonte. “This place takes a much different setup during the day because it doesn’t have much grip to start with. I was really having trouble getting to the middle of the corner and that’s not the way to be here. But we made some adjustments and it got a lot better. The spin was definitely my fault, but there was no grip out there at that point. We were able to fight back for a good finish.”

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will head to New Hampshire International Speedway for this weekend’s Sylvania 300. Friday’s qualifying session will be telecast on ESPN2. It will be broadcast on the Performance Racing Network (PRN) and Sirius Channel 128.