Labonte Finishes 35th at Infineon

FINAL RESULTS:
1. Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet
2. Ryan Newman, Dodge
3. Terry Labonte, Chevrolet
4. Greg Biffle, Ford
5. Kurt Busch, Dodge
21. Kyle Petty, #45 Wells Fargo Dodge
35. Bobby Labonte, #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge

OVERVIEW:

Labonte and the #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge team rebounded after being hit on lap one of Sunday’s race. Labonte started the race in the middle of the pack. In the opening turns, Labonte was hit from behind and sent spinning off the track. The Cheerios team rebounded and climbed to the 18th position just past the halfway mark. That was as high as the team would climb. Labonte’s day ended after a three cars spun in front of Labonte. The blocked track didn’t give Labonte an opportunity to dodge the wreck. Labonte’s day ended behind the wall.

“I put myself out of the race a couple of times today at least. That really got us behind. The 18 car got spun out by somebody he said. The 88 hit somebody and I hit the 88 and knocked the radiator out. It ended our day. My bad for the day.”

Jeff Gordon again was the best on a Nextel Cup road course. Gordon and his #24 Hendrick Motorsports team won Sunday’s Dodge/Save Mart 350 at the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California. It is Gordon’s fifth win at Infineon, the most of any driver, and ninth career road course win. The win is the first of the season for Gordon who moved into the top-10 in points. Ryan Newman led 11 laps and finished second. Terry Labonte, filling in for Tony Raines, finished third after leading 17 laps late in the race. The race was slowed seven times for cautions and two red flags. The first red flag was for a five car accident on lap two. The second was for a four car accident on lap 106.

Petty and the #45 Wells Fargo Dodge team overcame an early race flat tire to finish in the top-25. Petty started 33rd, but in the first 28 laps Petty knew something wasn’t right with the balance of the car. Petty was correct after the team found a hole in a tire causing a slow leak. Petty had to make a scheduled green flag pit stop, but lost a lap to the leaders in the process. Petty was awarded the ‘lucky dog’ award during a lap 40 caution period. The team then charged from 39th to the front. Petty finished a strong 21st. The finish moved Petty up three positions in championship points; the most of any driver during the day. Petty is now 30th in points.

“It was a good day for this Wells Fargo Dodge team,” said Petty. “We got put in the back with a tire going down, but I got used to how the car was handling after that. Paul (Andrews) and the guys did a good job of keeping us in it. We kept plugging away and picked up the positions at the end.”

The Nextel Cup Series now heads to the 2.5-mile Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway for Saturday’s Daytona 400.