BOBBY LABONTE BANQUET 400 NOTES AND QUOTES
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C., Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2005 – The following are Banquet 400 presented by ConAgra Foods pre-race notes and quotes for Bobby Labonte, driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet (NEXTEL Cup) for Joe Gibbs Racing.
BANQUET 400 PRESENTED BY CONAGRA FOODS PRE-RACE NOTES:
Labonte will attempt to start his fifth race at Kansas Speedway. He has never finished higher than 16th. He was involved in accidents in 2001 and 2002.
In 2004, Labonte started fifth and finished 16th, his highest finish at Kansas Speedway.
Labonte’s best start at Kansas was fourth in 2003.
Kansas and Chicagoland Speedway are the only two 1.5-mile ovals on the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup circuit that Labonte has never scored a top-five finish.
Labonte is 24th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings. He has 2,802 points and trails 23rd-place Ricky Rudd by 58 points.
The primary car for the Banquet 400 presented by ConAgra Foods is chassis No. 114, new car that has not been raced before.
The back-up car will be No. 78, the car Labonte used in the spring 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.
KANSAS PRE-RACE QUOTE:
BOBBY LABONTE (No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet, No. 19 Banquet Chevrolet; 2000 NASCAR Champion, 1991 Busch Series Champion): “Kansas has not been the best of tracks for me. I really like the track and think it's a great facility, but we’ve never really finished well there. Hopefully we can turn that around.”
