Dover Knows Few Friends - Labonte Feels Honored To Be One

Labonte will be making his 29th start on the concrete-banked oval this weekend. Labonte won this race from the pole in 1999. He has led 143 laps in his career at Dover. Labonte has collected 13 top-10 and 11 top-five finishes at the track.

Labonte finished 13th in the first race at Dover. It was his first race with Petty Enterprises at the track.

Questions for Labonte as he prepares for this weekend’s Dover 400:

How are you approaching Dover?

“We are going to be pretty aggressive. We’re not going to go in there and ‘bully’ this place. It doesn’t work that way, but we’re going to be pretty aggressive. You just have to be. Dover is a demanding track. It demands a lot of you- physically and mentally. If you just respect the track, and respect the guys around you, you will have a good day. You just can’t sit and wait for things to happen. You have to make it happen.

“I’ve had success at Dover by not getting bothered by this track. Maybe some other guys don’t like this place, but it has been a pretty good track for us. I have a win here and that was a good day. I want to make that happen again this weekend.”

Do you like the fact it’s so unique?

“You are just riding up-and-down all afternoon. There isn’t a track like it. You might have that sensation a little at Bristol, but Dover is much larger. We are going faster here and you are ‘diving’ into these turns. We don’t feel that sensation anywhere else.

“It’s fun. It’s just pretty tough, but experience helps a lot here. You have to know how to get around here. You learn that sensation, and how it feels, and that might be the biggest characteristic of Dover.

Did you enjoy working with Paul Andrews at New Hampshire?

“Paul is a great guy. We’re still working on getting to know each other. That’s the most important thing right now. We want to develop that communication. I feel it was pretty good at New Hampshire. The car was getting better all afternoon. We were moving up.”

“We are going to have more time this weekend and the rest of this season to communicate. That’s just the biggest deal right now. We want to be best prepared for 2007. A big part of that will be Paul and I getting races under our belt. I feel pretty good about it right now.”