Phoenix Racing Coke Zero 400 Race Recap

Daytona, FL (July 3, 2010) - Phoenix Racing and Bobby Labonte brought the No. 09 Coke Zero Chevrolet home in 16th-place during the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway. After a late start due to evening Florida showers, Labonte brought home a solid finish for Phoenix Racing after being involved an accident that collected nearly half the field. Labonte, however, was still able to finish the race on the lead lap giving him his best finish of the season.

Starting in the 37th position, Labonte raced in the top 30 before a competition yellow came out at Lap 17. Labonte reported the car was, "loose in and loose off, but tight in the center." The field restarted on Lap 19 with Labonte moving up to the 29th position.

Labonte made his way up to the 25th position after only 30 laps of action. Green-flag pit stops started around Lap 50. The team came down pit road on Lap 55 for a fresh set of tires, fuel and a handling adjustment.

On Lap 67 the third caution flag came out when Kyle Busch and the No. 43 got together in the tri-oval. Labonte came down pit road for two right side tires and fuel. Restarting in 20th position on Lap 69, Labonte drove in the top 20's for the next 40 laps. Labonte was in 22nd position at the halfway mark.

At Lap 95, Labonte reported "tight off, loose entry and middle, and the car is just giving up total grip." Another green flag pit stop was made at Lap 104 where the team elected to take four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. The caution flag flew at Lap 105, and because of the field circling through pit stops, restarted 32nd.

The fifth caution of the night came out on Lap 118 for an accident in Turn Four involving four cars. The No. 09 pit crew was able to pick up two spots on pit road with four new tires, fuel and another track bar adjustment. The team restarted in the 16th position on Lap 121.

Labonte continued to talk to the crew about handling as he battled a sliding car after about 10 laps of racing. With another caution at Lap 137, the crew came in for four fresh tires, fuel and the last tear off on the car.

An accident in Turn Three brought out the seventh caution of the night on Lap 143. The restart from the last caution was on Lap 141 and therefore the team decided to stay out to maintain track position. The team would restart 23rd on Lap 145.

The red flag was brought out on Lap 147 when "The Big One" happened in Turn Three involving 19 cars. Labonte was part of the accident and got damage to the right front fender after hitting the wall. The team was able to gather all of the correct equipment together, so when the caution flag came back out they were ready to make changes to the car. Unfortunately, the team was penalized with too many men over the wall and was sent to the tail end of the field for the restart on Lap 152.

The Coke Zero 400 ended with a green-white-checkered finish and Labonte was able to bring the Coke Zero Chevrolet home with a top-20 finish.

"This was a memorable weekend for sure. I really appreciate Coke asking me to be the Grand Marshal and being able to have Coke Zero on the car. It was definitely an honor and a great way to start my 600th Sprint Cup start.

"Our car was good for about 20 laps, and then it took off and slid too much. We kept track position for a while, then we got a wave around. We got involved in the 'Big One' and that was unfortunate for the team. It took out a lot of good cars, but we were lucky enough to not have too bad of damage to keep us from running strong at the end. All in all, it was okay.

"I'm looking forward to going to Chicago next weekend with James Finch and this Phoenix Racing team. Hopefully we'll be able to pull off another solid finish."