DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (January 10, 2013) – – It’s a new year and a new car. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers set sail for a three-day test session at Daytona International Speedway January 10-12 in preparation of the 55th annual Daytona 500 scheduled Sunday, February 24.
Bobby Labonte and his JTG Daugherty Racing team are well prepared to make single car runs and also mix it up in the draft with the 2013 No. 47 Toyota Camry during the Daytona Preseason Thunder test session at the 2.5-mile tri-oval. Each day, the session is 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a lunch break from noon to 1 p.m.
“We obviously already tested at Charlotte Motor Speedway with the new car and now we’re ready to tackle Daytona,” said 2000 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Bobby Labonte. “We’ve been gearing up for Daytona during the off season and we’ve got a couple cars ready to go. Brian Burns (crew chief) has surrounded himself with some really good people and we are so far ahead of where we were last year at this time. They have built two really nice cars for this three day test session. We’re hoping to learn a lot so we can go back and tweak some things at the race shop. We’re looking forward to representing our sponsors SCOTT Products, Clorox, Kingsford, Bush’s Beans, House-Autry, Herr’s, Charter, Toyota and Kroger this season. Our sponsors and our fans are really important to us and we couldn’t do this without them.”
“I’m just real excited about what 2013 has in store for JTG Daugherty Racing,” added JTG Daugherty co-owner Brad Daugherty said. “We’ve worked really hard this off season and we’re ready for Bobby Labonte to get back in the seat and test this week at Daytona International Speedway. Bobby Hutchens and the entire crew have put a great package together and we’re looking forward to getting in the draft and seeing how our Toyota Camry performs. We’ve got some fresh new faces and capable veterans and we couldn’t be happier about this season.”
2013 Daytona 500 – February 24 1:00 PM ET (FOX) www.daytona500.com
BOBBY LABONTE APPEARANCE
Daytona Preseason Thunder Fan Fest, which is the companion event to the January test session, will take place in the Sprint FANZONE on Thursday, Jan. 10. Bobby Labonte will participate in Session 2 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Rotation Schedule for Bobby Labonte:
7:30-7:55pm Fan Forum Sprint FANZONE Main Stage for Q&A with Fans
8-8:25pm Media/Social Media Stage inside Sprint FANZONE 8-8:25pm Facebook Livestream video chat with fans (with Paul Menard)
8:30-9:25pm Autograph Session Station inside Sprint FANZONE (250 wristbands)
Follow JTG Daugherty Racing on Twitter: http://twitter.com/nascar47
