New Hampshire Race Report

No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge
September 14, 2008
1.058-mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway

RACE RESULTS:
1. Greg Biffle, Ford
2. Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet
3. Carl Edwards, Ford
4. Jeff Burton, Chevrolet
5. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Chevrolet
13. Bobby Labonte, No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge
41. Chad McCumbee, No. 45 Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil Dodge

Greg Biffle fired the first volley of the 10 race “Chase for the Sprint Cup” by winning Sunday’s Sylvania 300 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Biffle passed Jimmie Johnson, winner of the last two Sprint Cup races, with a handful of laps remaining and held him off to take the checkered flag.

Johnson and Edwards are now tied atop the standings. Biffle, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and Jeff Burton round out the top-five. Kyle Busch, who entered the ‘Chase’ with a 30 point lead, saw it evaporate in one race. He is now eighth in points.

Bobby Labonte and the No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge team finished 13th on Sunday. The team had a great day of practice on Saturday, placing in the top-five fastest cars during each session, and were quietly picked by many in the garage area to contend of the win. Qualifying was rained out on Friday, however, and Labonte was forced to start the race from the 21st position based on the team’s standing in owner’s points. At the start of the event, Labonte had to deal with a chassis that was ‘tight’ in the middle of the corners and ‘loose’ coming off, which is typical characteristic of racing at New Hampshire. Crew chief Jeff Meendering made several air pressure and wedge adjustments to the No. 43 Dodge and Labonte’s lap times began to improve. The first half of the race featured two long green flag runs. This allowed Meendering to develop a pit strategy that would give Labonte a chance to capitalize on a solid finish. However, the last 100 laps would be caution-filled and the team was not able to take advantage of the two-tire stops and fuel strategy called for by Meendering.

“We were just too tight all day. We freed our Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge up, but it also made the car come out of the race track and I just couldn’t gain any more positions. Once I fell back to 13th, it became a real hard fought battle and it’s just really tough to pass that many cars in front of you. Jeff did a great job calling the race and the pit crew did an awesome job on the stops today. We just couldn’t gain enough track position.”

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will head to Dover (Del.) International Speedway for this weekend’s Camping World RV 400 presented by AAA. Friday’s qualifying session will be telecast on ESPN2. It will be broadcast on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius Channel 128.