Labonte Avoids Pile Up, Leads Nine Laps and Finishes 21st in Rain-Shortened New Hampshire Event

LOUDON, N.H. (June 28, 2009) – Bobby Labonte and the Ask.com team finished 21st in yesterday’s LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with rain showers working against the field all weekend in Loudon. The Ask.com team kept Labonte out of harm’s way, strategically overcame being a lap down and led nine laps in Sunday’s event.

After qualifying was rained out on Friday afternoon, Labonte took the green flag in 28th position at the 1.058-paperclip oval. With overcast skies and showers moving into the area, all 43 crew chiefs had their eyes on the weather. An early-race caution at lap 12 brought the field under the yellow flag and crew chief Ben Leslie directed Labonte down pit road for an early chassis adjustment after Labonte reported the car to be tight in the center of the turns. With the changes made, Labonte rejoined the field in 33rd.

A series of three more cautions slowed the field and opened pit road. Leslie kept Labonte on track in an effort to gain track position. During the competition caution at lap 45, Leslie brought the No. 96 Hall of Fame entry down pit road for a second round of adjustments and fresh tires. The field again went green with Labonte scored in 21st position.

A long stint of green flag laps continued and by lap 119 the No. 96 was in need of attention. Leslie brought Labonte down pit road for a pit stop under green. The stop put Labonte one lap behind the leaders, however a lucky caution at lap 151 put the Ask.com team back on the lead lap and Labonte took the restart in 28th position.

Soon thereafter, a crash erupted in turn one after an aggressive double-file restart and Labonte’s spotter, Tim Andrews, kept the No. 96 out of harm’s way. A red flag stopped the cars on the backstretch while the track was cleared of debris. The field was eventually awarded the green flag and Labonte was scored in 19th position.

Green-flag pit stops commenced once again with less than 70 laps remaining. Labonte stayed on track and led the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 for nine laps before coming to pit road for four Goodyear tires and Sunoco fuel. After rejoining the field in 25th position, Labonte would gain four positions before rain showers ended the race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

“We started out just a tick off,” said Labonte. “We weren’t bad but we weren’t good either. Ben (Leslie) and the guys did a good job of making the car better. We had a pretty competitive race car but didn’t have the cautions in our favor. If we had fresher tires we could have held out a little bit longer there at the end. All in all, I thought we ran a good race today. We just didn’t have the rain and flags fall in our favor.”

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will travel to Daytona International Speedway for the second time this season on July 4th weekend. TNT and MRN will carry the race live beginning at 7:30 p.m. EDT.

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