Labonte to start 25th at Michigan

QUALIFYING RESULTS:

1. Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 38.311 seconds, 187.936 miles per hour
2. Elliott Sadler, Dodge, 38.488 seconds, 187.071 miles per hour
3. Matt Kenseth, Ford, 38.543 seconds, 186.804 miles per hour
4. Ryan Newman, Dodge, 38.544 seconds, 186.800 miles per hour
5. Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 38.604 seconds, 186.509 miles per hour
25. Bobby Labonte, Dodge, 39.058 seconds, 184.341 miles per hour
46. Kyle Petty, Dodge, 40.341 seconds, 178.478 miles per hour

BROOKLYN, MI (August 18, 2006) - Bobby Labonte and the #43 Fruity Cheerios Dodge had a day full of highs and some disappointment. Labonte was the fastest car in the morning practice session. Labonte led a field of 47 cars in the practice session and everyone was chasing the Fruity Cheerios Dodge as qualifying began. Labonte qualified early in the session, but a vibration forced Labonte to back-off on his qualifying lap. Labonte qualified 25th with the slight vibration. The team pinpointed the problem after the qualifying session and it proved to be an uncontrollable issue. Labonte and the Fruity Cheerios Dodge are hoping to be a force on Sunday.

“I think the car will be pretty good on Sunday,” said Labonte. “We had a little bit of a vibration in it for some reason. We won’t have that on Sunday. It wasn’t the best lap in qualifying, but we’ll be good on Sunday.”

Kyle Petty made the debut of the #45 Marathon/American Spirit Motor Oil Dodge at the Michigan International Speedway on Friday. Petty unveiled the #45 Marathon/American Spirit Motor Oil paint scheme. Petty and the team were looking for great things on Friday and attempted something new to make the best qualifying laps possible. Unfortunately the setup didn’t work as planned, but championship crew chief Paul Andrews has plans of getting Petty up front on Sunday.

“We tried something today, but it didn’t work out like we wanted,” said crew chief Paul Andrews. “We’ve got great notes from here in June. We’re going to go back to that on Saturday and get ready for Sunday. We’ll be ready and have a good car for Kyle on Sunday.”

Jeff Burton won his fourth pole of the season Friday at the two-mile Michigan International Speedway located in the city of Brooklyn. Burton, who is enjoying a very successful season, won his sixth career pole and will lead the field to Sunday’s GFS Marketplace 400. Burton and Kasey Kahne are now tied for the most poles this season. Elliott Sadler, the newly named driver for the #19 Evernham Motorsports Dodge, qualified second. Matt Kenseth qualified third. It was a warm and overcast day on Friday. Michigan is a fast, wide oval and momentum means everything on a qualifying lap. Burton had a smooth lap to take the pole.

Teams have two final practice sessions on Saturday before Sunday’s race. Sunday’s race will be televised live nationally on TNT and broadcast on MRN. Race coverage begins at 2:00pm (EST).