Bobby Labonte
No. 77 Dollar General Stores Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS Team Report
NASCAR Busch Series Race 28 of 35 – Richmond (Va.) International Raceway
CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY RACE RECAP:
NASCAR Busch Series teams endured another scorching weekend at the track, this time visiting the West Coast at the California Speedway for the Camping World 300. Scott Wimmer was behind the wheel of the No. 77 Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) owned Dollar General stores Chevrolet. Wimmer qualified the No. 77 Dollar General stores Chevrolet 25th on the grid and finished out the 150-lap event 12th.
RICHMOND (VA.) INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY FACTS & STATS:
500th CAREER START: Bobby Labonte will make his 500th NASCAR Nextel Cup Series career start at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway during the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 on Saturday night, September 8th, 2007. Fans can obtain a free “500th Career Start” t-shirt by logging on to www.bobbylabonte.com.
SOLID STATS FOR LABONTE: Driving the No. 77 Dollar General stores Chevrolet for Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI), Bobby Labonte will make his 13th NASCAR Busch Series (NBS) start at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. Labonte has racked up three top-five and eight top-10 finishes in 12 NBS starts.
SIGHTS SET: The last NASCAR Busch Series event that Bobby Labonte raced at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway was in 2006 for Joe Gibbs Racing. Behind the wheel of the No. 19 Chevrolet, Labonte drove to an eighth-place finish. With his sights set on a solid finish in the No. 77 Dollar General stores Chevrolet, Labonte holds a starting average of ninth and a finishing average of 12th at the 0.75-mile track.
CREW CHIEF CORNER WITH WALLY ROGERS:
Car specific, what is the focus of setting up the No. 77 Dollar General stores Chevrolet for Richmond (Va.) International Raceway? “The biggest thing that I focus on is getting the car to turn coming off of turn two. Turns three and four aren’t that bad because the track opens up, but the cars carry so much speed into turn one that it’s important to carry it all the way through the middle of the corner and off turn two. I believe the best place to pass is in turn two if you have car that handles, because the majority of the field struggles in that turn.”
CREW CHIEF CORNER WITH WALLY ROGERS CONTINUED:
How important is pit strategy at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway? “There is a fine line on when to make the last scheduled pit stop. Tires matter at Richmond, but track position is more important when it comes down to the final laps. The strategy usually works itself out as far as the green-flag runs and cautions go. Normally at the beginning the race has a lot of green-flag runs and then toward the end of the race the caution flag waves a lot more.”
This will be the second race at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway for the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series season. What did you learn with Kevin Harvick driving the No. 77 Dollar General stores Chevrolet that you will use with Bobby Labonte behind the wheel? “When Kevin [Harvick] drove the car we were testing and doing a lot of experimental set-ups in the car. But there were some things that we learned at Gateway (Ill.) International Raceway and ORP (O’Reilly Raceway Park) that will help at Richmond. In the past I’ve had a pretty good track record at the start of the race, but the track has never been good to me at the end of the race. In 2006, Ron Hornaday drove my car and we started second, just barley missing the pole, but we were caught up in an incident at the end of the race. Earlier this season with Harvick, we started 13th and finished fourth, which I’m not disappointed with. I know that with Bobby Labonte behind the wheel of my car, we’ll be in good shape and his track record at Richmond isn’t too shabby either.”
QUICK NOTES:
Race Info
Date: September 7, 2007
Track: Richmond (Va.) International Raceway
Event Name: Emerson Radio 250
Race length: 250 laps / 187.5 miles
Banking/Turns: 14-degrees
Track layout: 0.75-mile
Shape: D-Shaped Oval
Pre-Race Schedule:
Friday:
Practice: 8:30 – 9:40 a.m., ET
Final Practice: 10:10 – 11:10 a.m., ET
Qualifying: 4:05 p.m., ET
Broadcast Times:
TV: NASCAR Countdown pre-race coverage can be seen live on ESPN2 at 7:30 p.m., ET, followed by the Emerson Radio 250 on ESPN2 at
8:00 p.m., ET.
Radio: The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will broadcast pre-race coverage at 7:30 p.m., ET.
No. 77 Dollar General stores Monte Carlo SS Specs
Chassis: 010
Car History: Previously raced in 2007 at Gateway (Ill.) International Raceway and New Hampshire International Speedway.
Car History: Engine: RCR
