Labonte Making the Most of June
Two Straight Top-15 Finishes Heading To Michigan

LEVEL CROSS, NC (June 13, 2006) - This weekend, Bobby Labonte and the #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge team head to the two-mile Michigan International Speedway, located in the city of Brooklyn, for Sunday’s 3M Performance 400.

Labonte is a three time winner at Michigan. He swept both races at the track as recently as 2003. Labonte has also earned nine top-five and 15 top-10 finishes at the track. Labonte finished sixth and 18th last season at Michigan. It will be Labonte’s first start at the track for Petty Enterprises.

Labonte and the #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge team are currently 23rd in championship point standings. Labonte moved up one position after last weekend’s 500-mile race at Pocono. Labonte scored his fifth top-15 finish of the season last weekend.

Questions for Labonte as he prepares for this weekend’s 3M Performance 400:

How important is it to run well in June?

“It’s important to run well all the time, but June is a long month for us. We have four big races throughout the month. We’re halfway through, but we’ve got Michigan and then head out to Infineon. It’s important to get good finishes so you can carry momentum into July and August. The ‘Chase’ starts in the middle of September, but a lot of how you get there happens right now.”

How do you feel about your month so far?

“We’ve had some ‘OK’ races so far. Dover wasn’t a bad race for us. We were closing in on a top-10, but ran out of laps. Pocono, we were in the top-10 and had a flat tire. We came back strong there, but just missed another top-10. The last few weeks we’ve been right on the cusp of getting some top-10 finishes.

“The big picture, we’re making a lot of ground. We’re moving up in points and that’s good for all of us. It’s really close right now. There are a lot of guys just jammed near the top-20. We’re right there in the mix. We’ve moved up the past few races. We need to keep moving forward the next two weeks. We want to build that momentum for July and August.”

What are you hoping for at Michigan?

“We want a good run and continue to improve. We’re dancing around top-10 finishes, but we want to get in there. We’ve had some consistent finishes the last two races. That’s good, but we need to keep moving forward.

“I think we can finish this month strong. This Cheerios team is very capable of having a strong run at Michigan. It’s a great track and I enjoy racing there. I’m looking forward to Sunday. We want a good run. This summer stretch is important for everyone.”