TERRY LABONTE NOTES & QUOTES
‘TEXAS TERRY’ RUNNING CHICAGO:
Terry Labonte is entered in Sunday’s NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series event at the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway. The race will mark the eighth Cup appearance of 2005 for Labonte, who will drive a No. 44 Pizza Hut Chevrolet at the Joliet, Ill., D-shaped tri-oval.
CNBC’S ‘NASCAR GOLD’ TO PREMIERE MONDAY:
CNBC is set to premiere a one-hour documentary about the sport of NASCAR. Reported by Dylan Ratigan, “NASCAR Gold” will feature numerous industry personalities, including the France family and team owner Rick Hendrick. The program will air Monday, July 11 at 8 and 11 p.m. ET.
LABONTE LOOKING TO BETTER HIS BEST:
With a sixth-place effort at Chicagoland Speedway last July, Labonte recorded his best-ever finish at the venue while posting one of his top performances of the 2004 NEXTEL Cup season. The two-time series champion started 24th and was one of 13 drivers to lead a lap in the event, which saw three Hendrick Motorsports teams post top-10 runs. Labonte matched the sixth-place result -- his best of the year -- two races later at Pocono Raceway.
HENDRICK AT CHICAGOLAND:
Although Hendrick Motorsports has never won a Cup Series event in the four-race history of Chicagoland Speedway, teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon own the two best average results at the track. With a third-place average, Johnson has never finished worse than fourth in three appearances, while Gordon has started all four events with an average performance of 6.7.
INDY NEXT FOR LABONTE:
Labonte will next take his “Shifting Gears” tour to the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Aug. 7 running of the Brickyard 400.
TERRY LABONTE, DRIVER OF THE NO. 44 PIZZA HUT CHEVROLETS:
(WHAT MADE YOU SELECT CHICAGOLAND AS ONE OF THE TRACKS YOU’D RACE THIS SEASON?) “I like the race track and we had a nice run there last year. It’s a great facility. My son, Justin, won his first Busch Series race at Chicago, so it’s a special place for our family. Chicago was a fun weekend for us last July, so it was definitely easy to pick it for my schedule this year.”
LABONTE:
(YOU’RE NOT AN EMOTIONAL GUY, BUT YOU SHOWED SOME WHEN JUSTIN WON AT CHICAGO LAST YEAR. WHAT WAS THAT LIKE?) “Oh, I couldn’t even talk. I didn’t know what to say. To me, personally, watching him win his first race meant more to me than any of the races I’ve ever won myself. It ranks higher than anything I’ve ever accomplished. When you can see your kids being successful at anything, whether it’s Justin racing, or my daughter getting A’s in school, it always means an awful lot. It’s a great feeling to see your kids have success.”
