Mid-Race Melee Leaves Bobby Labonte with 39th Place Finish at Phoenix International Raceway

Phoenix - After announcing his plans to drive the No. 71 Chevrolet for TRG Motorsports full time in 2010, NASCAR Champion Bobby Labonte was poised for a strong run at Phoenix International Raceway. After running in the top 20 for most of the afternoon, Bobby was caught up in a wreck on lap 170 that left him with a 39th-place finish.

Only two laps into a re-start after the race's third caution, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s loose race car caused a back up that collected Labonte and approximately eight other drivers. "It's definitely not the way we wanted to end the race," Labonte said after being released from the infield care center. "This is part of racing and there's not much you can do about it. It's just unfortunate that we were caught up in it because we were running well and I was expecting us to have a good finish."

Despite losing grip early in each of his runs, Labonte and the No. 71 CBRMotorcars.com Chevrolet crew were on the road to a solid finish, running in as high as 14th-place. The crew made major adjustments following practice on Saturday and Labonte was pleased with the results.

"Compared to Saturday, everything Slugger and the guys did really helped the car as far as speed, competitiveness and drivability," Labonte said. "We're going to continue to work together every week and we're going to keep getting better."

TRG Motorsports team owner Kevin Buckler, who joined Labonte in announcing the team's plans for next season, was hopeful in regard to the future, despite the finish on Sunday. "Unfortunately, being the innocent bystander and being caught up in a wreck is part of racing," Buckler said. "The good news is that we had a strong car and, now that we have Bobby signed on full-time in 2010 and a multi-race primary sponsor in TaxSlayer.com, we've got a lot to look forward to."

TaxSlayer.com will be the sponsor of the No. 71 TRG Motorsports Chevy when the team travels to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the finale of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season at the Ford 400 on Sunday, November 22.