Race 2 Win: Sharpie 500 - Bobby Labonte Notes

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Sharpie 500 - Bobby Labonte Notes

BOBBY LABONTE SHARPIE 500 NOTES AND QUOTES

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C., Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2005 – The following are Sharpie 500 pre-race notes and quotes for Bobby Labonte, driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing.

SHARPIE 500 PRE-RACE NOTES:

Labonte’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet will feature custom graphics with NBA Superstar Lebron James and POWERade’s new FLAVA23 sports drink on the hood. The car will feature James’ stylized comic book character, “King James,” soaring through the air on the way to the rim for a signature dunk. James will be at Bristol to witness the debut of his likeness on the hood of a NEXTEL Cup car.

Labonte will attempt to start his 26th NEXTEL Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway. He has never won a NEXTEL Cup race at the .533 of a mile oval.

Labonte has eight top-10 finishes at Bristol, including a career-best third in April 2003.

In the spring race, Labonte was in seventh-place on Lap 332 of the 500-lap race when he was caught up in a 13-car accident between Turns 3 and 4. He finished 22nd, 32 laps down.

Last week, at Michigan, Labonte started 18th and finished 16th.

Bad luck has plagued Labonte throughout the 2005 season. He has failed to finish in nine of the 23 races due to accidents or engine problems.

Labonte is 24th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings. He has 2,209 points and trails 23rd-place Casey Mears by eight points.

The primary car for the Sharpie 500 is chassis No. 74, the car Labonte used to win the pole and finish fourth with in 2003 at Las Vegas. Labonte also drove the car in 2003 at California, where he finished second and at Pocono 2, where he finished 30th (engine). The car was driven in 2004 at Dover where Labonte started 18th and finished 25th in the spring and started sixth and finished 14th in the fall. Labonte also used the car in August at Bristol where he started 19th and finished 16th and in November at Darlington when he started 15th and finished ninth. The only time in 2005 the car has been used was at Bristol in the spring.

The back-up car is chassis No. 78, the car Labonte used at Dover, where he finished 38th after engine problems ended his day after just 51 laps. The chassis was also used in 2004 at both Pocono races where he finished third and 29th (accident). Also in 2004, Labonte used the car to finish eighth at Las Vegas, 18th at Atlanta (spring), 18th at New Hampshire (fall) and 17th at Charlotte (fall). In 2003, the car was used in the second Atlanta race, where Labonte finished fifth. Chassis No. 78 was also used at both Michigan races and the Kansas race. Labonte won the pole for both races at Michigan and finished second in the car in the first Michigan race. He started fourth in the car at Kansas.

SHARPIE 500 PRE-RACE QUOTE:
BOBBY LABONTE (No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet; 2000 NASCAR Champion, 1991 Busch Series Champion): “We’ve got a pretty full week at Bristol doing both the NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series events. It’s going to be busy, that’s for sure. It’s a pretty neat deal to have Lebron James and POWERade FLAVA23 on the car. We’ve done a lot of really cool paint schemes over the years, The Passion of the Christ, the “Let’s Roll” car, we had Cal Ripken Jr. on the car one year, a Pro Football Hall of Fame car for Joe Gibbs – the Lebron car certainly ranks right up there. He’s a tremendous basketball player and I’m looking forward to meeting him and hopefully putting on a good show for him. The night race at Bristol is pretty unique. I don’t think there is anything really like it on the schedule. You need a little bit of luck on your side at Bristol because the wrecks are going to happen and not getting caught up in them is difficult. Things happen so fast and it's hard to get through a wreck when it happens right in front of you. You try to be patient and stay calm in the car, but sometimes your emotions can get the best of you there is beating and banging going on for 500 laps.”

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