Race 2 Win: Nationwide Series Race Notes

Nationwide Series

Sam's Town 300 - Bobby Labonte Notes

Bobby Labonte
No. 21 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
Event Preview Fact Sheet

Event/Date: Sam’s Town 300 – March 1, 2008
Venue: Las Vegas Motor Speedway

NOTES:

This Week’s No. 21 Chevrolet at Las Vegas Motor Speedway … Bobby Labonte will race chassis No. 056 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) stable. In September 2007, Clint Bowyer raced this chassis to a fifth-place finish at California Speedway after starting the 300-mile event seventh. Additionally, this is the same No. 21 Chevrolet Timothy Peters raced in March at Bristol Motor Speedway (St. 26, Fn. 25) and at Nashville Superspeedway in June (St.4, Fn. 20). Since then, the car has been outfitted with all the 2008 updates.

Testing, testing … Stephen Leicht and the Shane Wilson-led team tested at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Jan. 30-31 in preparation for the Sam’s Town 300 as part of NASCAR’s Preseason test session.

Labonte in the Nationwide Series Loop at Vegas …

Stat Facts … In three NNS starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Labonte has posted one top-10 finish and has yet to finish worse than 16th.
Good Start, Better Finish … The Corpus Christi, Texas native currently holds a 30th-place starting average coupled with a 12th-place finishing average and has completed 599 of 600 total laps (99.8%) at the 1.5-mile track.
Since We’re Talking Las Vegas Stats … Labonte is ranked 11th in NASCAR’s Average Running Position category (12.1) and is currently the sport’s second-best Quality Passer – a statistic derived from the number of positions improved while running in the top 15 during green-flag conditions. He is 10th in the Driver Rating category (89.1). The Driver Rating is a formula that combines the following categories: wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The maximum points a driver can earn in each race is 150 points. The Driver Rating number is used pre-race as a prediction tool and post-race as a performance evaluator.

Double Down in Sin Town … In addition to racing the No. 21 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS in Saturday’s Sam’s Town 300, Labonte, a 10-time Nationwide Series race winner, will drive the No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge for Petty Enterprises in the UAW-Dodge 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 2. The race can be seen live on FOX beginning at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) and will also broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network (PRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio.

RCR at Vegas … In 17 NNS starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, RCR has earned two wins (Jeff Burton – March ’07 and Kevin Harvick – March ’04), seven top-five and 11 top-10 finishes with Clint Bowyer, Burton, Harvick, Ron Hornaday Jr., Jeff Green and Johnny Sauter.

Catch the Action … The Sam’s Town 300 can be seen live on ESPN2 Saturday, March 1 beginning at 4 p.m. EST and can be heard live on PRN and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the third of 35 races on the Nationwide Series tour will take place the same day and will be broadcast live on SPEED, PRN and Sirius Satellite Radio beginning at Noon EST.

BOBBY LABONTE QUOTES:
In three NASCAR Nationwide Series starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway you have yet to finish worse than 16th. Do you enjoy racing at that track?
“I really enjoy racing at Vegas and was fortunate to be in good equipment for those three races. Vegas is a type of track that is fun to drive on because of the different grooves the track has. You have to find the groove that works best for you and your car. The Nationwide cars are exceptionally fun to drive and I’m really looking forward to competing in this race for Richard (Childress).”

Clint Bowyer captured a top-five finish at California last year with same chassis you will be running at Vegas. Does that give you confidence going into this weekend’s race?
“It really does. It’s evident that Richard (Childress) has put together a great Nationwide Series program. Shane (Wilson) has a proven record of getting the job done and I enjoyed working with this championship-winning team in Daytona and even more so looking forward to getting back into the No. 21 Chevrolet this weekend.”

Last year was the first year the Nationwide Series cars hit the track after it was reconfigured. What are your thoughts on returning to the track a year later?
“If you look at last year’s Nationwide event, you would have seen that it put on a great show for the fans. It was a highly competitive event and I think this year’s race will be no different. The reconfiguration definitely had a positive impact on the competition. Stephen (Leicht) and the team tested out there earlier this year. They had a great test and left with a lot of positive notes so all in all, it should be a good weekend.”