Looking For Better Luck at Pocono
Flat Tire Cost Labonte Top Finish in June

LEVEL CROSS, NC (July 18, 2006) - This weekend, Bobby Labonte and the #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge team head to the 2.5-mile Pocono (Penn.) Raceway for Sunday’s Pennsylvania 500. It will be the second and last stop for the Nextel Cup Series in the state of Pennsylvania.

Labonte finished 12th in June at the track. The team raced inside the top-10 in the late stages of the race before a flat tire forced the team to pit road late in the race. They rebounded for a 12th place finish. Labonte has finished 12th or better in five of the 19 races so far this season. Labonte has 10 top-25 finishes this season.

Labonte will be making his 28th start at the track. He has three wins at the track including a sweep in 1999. He has collected eight top-10 and five top-five finishes. Labonte has earned over a million in earnings at the track.

Comments from Labonte as he prepares for this weekend’s Pennsylvania 500:

How was the race in June?

“We had a pretty good Cheerios Dodge, but had a tire go down late in the race. We had to battle back from that and got back to a 12th place finish. It wasn’t bad. We knew we had a pretty good car. We’re going to bring back the same piece and hopefully get that top-10 or top-five finish that we missed last time.

“We want to get back into the rhythm of getting some top-10 finishes. We have been running pretty strong the last three of four weeks, but haven’t seen some of the results. But, we know we can do it. Hopefully we can start a streak this weekend.”

How different is Pocono in July than June?

“It’s almost a totally different track. You don’t think it can change that much in one month, but it’s pretty different. It’s warmer in July and the track changes because of it. You just have to adjust to the conditions.

“Todd (Parrott) and the guys on this team are pretty good with our cars. They can get a handle on things pretty quickly. We have been fighting all year to get the best we can with what we have. This weekend will be no different. We’re feeling pretty good going in. We know this car is capable of running up front.”

Do you like Pocono?

“I’ve had some good runs there and it’s a challenging track. It’s just a different place than most other tracks. I think that’s where the challenge is. You can’t ever be perfect there, but you try to be as ‘perfect’ as possible. It’s all about the handling and the setup of the car.

“The turns are just so different. Turn One is at the end of the this long, wide straightaway. You use all the brakes you have to get into it. The ‘Tunnel’ Turn is tricky and you don’t want to hit the bumps now. That makes it tricky. It’s just a tough track to get a perfect handling car, but we’ll get the Cheerios Dodge as close as we can this weekend.”