Labonte battles to finish 19th at Michigan

FINAL RESULTS:
1. Matt Kenseth, Ford
2. Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet
3. Tony Stewart, Chevrolet
4. Kasey Kahne, Dodge
5. Mark Martin, Ford
19. Bobby Labonte, #43 Fruity Cheerios Dodge
31. Kyle Petty, #45 Marathon/American Spirit Motor Oil Dodge

OVERVIEW:

BROOKLYN, MI (July 20, 2006) - Bobby Labonte, driving the #43 Fruity Cheerios Dodge, had a race that saw him in the top-10 and finish with a 19th place run in the GFS Marketplace 400 at the two-mile Michigan International Speedway. Labonte’s Dodge was loose at the beginning of the race, but crew chief Greg Steadman had Labonte on pit road during every caution period early. The team made adjustments to the car and on lap 64 the team elected not to pit while most of the leaders had to. That left Labonte running eighth with a better car. A long green run, Labonte was strong but eventually a tire slowly leaking air caused the car to lose its handling. Labonte lost grip in the car after a very slight adjustment, but the change was reversed on the final pit stop. Labonte then charged back through the field to finish 19th.

“We really didn’t have a lot of time to practice with this car on Saturday,” said Labonte. “It’s a good car, and we had a good car today, but we need to figure it out a little bit. We just need some time with it and see how it reacts to some changes. We’ll take it back and work with it. It ran in the top-10 so we know it’s a pretty good piece.”

Kyle Petty and the Marathon/America Spirit Motor Oil Dodge team made early adjustments to their car to make it better. Petty couldn’t find any grip on the car, but crew chief Paul Andrews had solutions. Andrews made wedge and air pressure adjustments all afternoon. Petty’s Dodge ran better and climbed to 28th in the middle stages of the race. Petty led a lap during Sunday’s race and gained five bonus points. The car was best in open air, but all the cautions bunched the cars up throughout the day. Petty was close on different occasions on getting the ‘lucky dog’, but instead was forced to line his car on the inside on each restart. That rarely allowed Petty the room he needed to get the best out of the car. Petty finished 31st.

“We made the car better, but I needed the entire track,” said Petty. “Track position was tough today because of all the cautions. If we had some space we ran with those guys. We just needed to be a little better at the start of the race. The guys worked hard on this car all weekend.”

Matt Kenseth capped off a successful weekend in Michigan Sunday by winning the GFS Marketplace 400. Kenseth qualified third for the race and had a strong car all weekend. He had enough strength to hold off a closing Jeff Gordon at the end of the race. Kenseth, with his third win of the season, was able to close ground on championship leader Jimmie Johnson. There were a few changes within the top 10 in point standings, but nobody gained or lost a position to qualify for the ‘chase’ that begins in four more races. The race was slowed 10 times for cautions. Teams had limited track time on Saturday after rain showers moved through thus making some teams chase the handling of their cars all day.

The Nextel Cup Series now heads to the .533-mile Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway for Saturday night’s Sharpie 500.