Auto Club 500 - Bobby Labonte Notes

LABONTE HOPES TO REGAIN FORM AT CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (April 21, 2003) - After recording a second and third-place in the California 500 in 1999 and 2000, Bobby Labonte thought it was only a matter of time before he visited victory lane there as well. Or so he thought.

Over the past two seasons Labonte has done nothing but struggle at the 2-mile oval. A 22nd place finish in 2001 due to an ill-handling race car and a 34th place finish last year due to a belt coming off the engine on just the 11th lap of the race have plagued the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion at the track located about an hour east of the greater Los Angeles area.

"We are not very proud of what we have done out there the last two years," admitted Labonte. "We won the pole position in 2001, but ran like crap in the race. We weren't even competitive. Then last year we had a belt come off on just the 10th lap or so and we spent almost 10 laps getting that fixed. We never even had a chance at victory after that. About the only thing good to come out of last year's race was that we spent the remaining 240 laps using it as a live test session. We tried all kinds of stuff with the car to see how it would react. Other than that it stunk."

With that being said, Labonte fully intends on getting back into the groove this weekend. With the assistance of new crew chief Michael McSwain and numerous other factors, Labonte sees no reason why they can't be right back up front battling for the win.

"We've run well this season, but we don't have all the finishes to go along with it," said Labonte. "I have felt like we have been competitive at almost every track so far, but circumstances beyond our control have prevented good finishes at places like Daytona, Talladega and Texas, just to name a few."

"There isn't any one particular thing that has helped us get the program headed back in the right direction," added Labonte. "Michael has been a big reason for a lot of it though and that's why I feel especially good about this weekend. There are so many things we're doing differently. We've got brand new cars coming to the track every weekend and Jimmy (Makar) is still with us helping with all the wind tunnel and testing stuff we're doing. So I feel really good about the direction we're heading."

Coming into 2003, Labonte, McSwain and Makar mapped out a plan for the season. One that would get the team headed back in the right direction, but also one that would let the competition know they were back and to be reckoned with.

"Our goal this season was to get back to leading laps and being a contender each week. I feel as though we have done that for the most part and I am happy about that. We were in a number of wrecks though that weren't our fault. We will just have to work harder as we press towards the mid-point of the season."

Currently in 11th place in the point standings after nine races, Labonte has recorded one victory, four top-five finishes and two pole positions so far. While the season is only a quarter of the way finished, it looks as though the plan seems to be working and Labonte can't wait to get to California to improve upon those stats.

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