Sylvania 300 - Bobby Labonte Notes

LABONTE FEELS TESTING WILL PAY OFF IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (Sept. 8, 2003) - When Bobby Labonte finished 14th at New Hampshire International Speedway in July, he knew he and the team had to regroup and come back this time around with a different thought process. Even though the finish wasn't terrible, Labonte knows 14th place finishes aren't going to get him any trophies and surely isn't going to help him in the point standings.

With that thought, Labonte and the Interstate Batteries Racing Team decided to go testing in an effort to not make the same mistakes twice, and be able to unload quick given the limited amount of practice the teams get on a given race weekend.

"We weren't happy at all about our performance up at Loudon in July," explained Labonte. "We were super tight for the majority of the race and when we finally did free the car up enough to race, we were so far back in traffic it was hard to pass. We just left there in July feeling like we needed to work on some things, as we clearly weren't in the ballpark of the leaders."

Having completed the test following the Michigan race in August, Labonte and Crew Chief Michael "Fatback" McSwain both feel it was a smart decision to spend the time working on some new ideas for New Hampshire's tricky surface.

"We may not be battling for the championship anymore, but we are battling for every other position out there," admitted Labonte. "We can't leave anything on the table and that was the reason for going and testing. We're all tired and adding a test in the midst of this 20-race stretch is tough on everyone on the team, but we're all racers and we want to win. We race to get those trophies and we just felt like we didn't give our best effort in July so when 'Fatback' asked me about testing for this event, I was all for it."

"We didn't give Bobby a good car back in July," added McSwain. "We hurt ourselves by scrambling on finding a set-up that could work and in the end, we barely survived with a 14th place finish. For a majority of the race we stunk and that's what I remember. I don't like that feeling and I felt like the test would be beneficial not just at New Hampshire, but we could probably learn some things for Phoenix as well."

Like Richmond Raceway this past weekend, New Hampshire International Speedway has also installed the new Steel And Foam Energy Reduction (SAFER) wall system around the corners of the track. Working with NASCAR in an effort to make the sport safer, the track wasted little time in getting the walls installed once the proper testing was completed and the walls were approved.

"The Bahre family has been pushing to have this done and I am glad to see it is finished," said Labonte. "We might not always see eye-to-eye on everything, but one thing they have always done is make things as safe as possible and I appreciate that. This is a move in the right direction and I am glad to see New Hampshire be one of the first tracks to get the walls installed. Hopefully none of us will have to use them this weekend, however we saw them get used a little last weekend in Richmond and it looked like they held up pretty good and did their job just fine."

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