Bobby Labonte Brings 27th Place Finish in the Auto Club 500
Fontana, Calif. – NASCAR Champion Bobby Labonte and the No. 71 TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet crossed the finish line in 27th position after a long day of competition in the Auto Club 500 at Auto Club Speedway in California. Despite the mid-pack finish, Bobby and the team fought hard for every position throughout the day. The team leaves Fontana in 25th place in the points standings, tops among all of the independent teams.
Labonte contended with rain, clouds, temperature changes and a race car that didn't seem respond to any adjustments for 500 miles in the second race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Despite a variety of air pressure changes, shock and track bar adjustments, the 71 Chevrolet remained tight throughout the corners of the 2-mile speedway, preventing Labonte from gaining the full speed he needed to contend for the lead.
"It was a long day for us and the changing track conditions just didn't seem to help our cause," Labonte said. "Doug (Randolph) threw everything he could at this thing, but we just couldn't ever find the grip we needed."
The TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet began the day in 33rd-position and quickly gained several spots. An unlucky break brought the caution out immediately after a green-flag pit stop on lap 131 and kept Labonte one lap behind the race leaders, but he regained his spot on the lead lap after being the recipient of the "lucky dog" on the following race caution. For the second time in the race, the No. 71 went one lap down after pitting immediately before the caution flag was waved for rain over the speedway and was never able to recover its position.
"It just wasn't our day to catch a break with the caution flags," crew chief Doug Randolph said. "Bobby drove the wheels off of that thing, and we had fast pit stops, but we just weren't able to get it where we needed it to be."
Team owner Kevin Buckler knew the finish wasn't ideal for his young team, but has confidence in the crew's ability to turn the tables for next week.
"It's tough to come off of a solid finish at Daytona and battle a car all day the next week, but Bobby did a great job," Buckler said. "We caught a few bad breaks, but we're going to Vegas next week and I've got to believe lady luck will be on our side there. We have new cars now and have our expectations set high. We had a really strong run there last year and I know this TRG Motorsports crew will be ready to hit the ground running as soon as we unload."
The TaxSlayer.com team will continue its west coast tour on Sunday, Feb. 28th when NASCAR visits Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The race will be broadcast live on FOX with coverage beginning at 3:00 Eastern time.
|
|
