Ford Performance NASCAR Notes and Quotes
GEICO 500 – Talladega Superspeedway
Friday, April 29, 2016
Bobby Labonte, driver of the No. 32 Rimrock Devlin Ford Fusion, spoke to media members at Talladega Superspeedway Friday afternoon following the opening Cup Series practice session. Labonte spoke about sponsorship for the weekend and also fielded questions pertaining to the race and his future.
BOBBY LABONTE, No. 32 Rimrock Devlin Ford Fusion – DO YOU WANT TO RUN THE FOUR RESTRICTOR PLATE RACES AGAIN NEXT YEAR? “You know, for next year that is a great question. With the charter situation and how that all work and then obviously Josh guaranteed that I would be the Hall of Fame if he sponsored me a couple more years like he did with Terry. That worked for Terry. I don’t know right now. It is different now with the charter system. It might not be quite the same. We haven’t really talked about it. That is a possibility but I am not really sure right now. I do have a couple other possibilities I am excited about that might come to fruition later on in the year that I didn’t see coming around the corner but they are opportunities that might lead to something that I have been more excited about than anything I have done in my career.”
WHAT ARE THOSE OPPORTUNITIES? “Like drinking this Coke right now I guess. I don’t know. I can’t really say because it isn’t done and that wouldn’t be like me. I am excited about the opportunity though. Racing is still a big passion of mine and I know I am not going to go do a lot of things I used to do but there are still some opportunities out there that are still up on my radar that I would like to do.”
WHAT RACING GOALS DO YOU HAVE LEFT? “That is a great question too. Winning any race. It might be a bicycle race. Racing at the Sprint Cup level has gotten so intense that if you can’t do it every weekend – here is different as we all know. Last weekend and next weekend is different than here. I still like the passion of the racing, being competitive and helping Archie and his team out to get better so they can hang in there through the future for the charter deal. It is one of those things that I guess I kind of want to race more in a way but I don’t want to race more in some ways. I don’t want to do it every weekend but I know there are different series’ you can do that aren’t quite as strenuous as this. My brother told me one time after about two years of retirement, “You know you will have a lot more friends later that you didn’t know you had.’ And that is true. I am enjoying that. As far as racing goes I am enjoying it and my opportunity is only four times right now through a little bit of what I want to do and a little bit from other people.”
THERE WERE RUMORS FOR AWHILE THAT YOU MIGHT GO CHASE A TRUCK CHAMPIONSHIP. IS THAT SOMETHING THAT ALMOST CAME TO FRUITION OR THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO DO? “It is absolutely something that we have talked about and met with some people about. Again, everything has to line up right. I couldn’t just make it happen by snapping my fingers and we couldn’t quite get it all lined up. I definitely had it in my mind that it was something I really wanted to do. I would still entertain that but there is also a point where if you can chase the championship that is one thing, and you can do it in a lot of ways. When I started racing when I was little the passion was to race and win and that is what you want to do. You want the chance to do that. We did it back then and I think the Truck Series is very appealing to me. I loved it when I did a few of them for a couple of guys and won a race and finished in the top-five quite a bit. It is definitely a different level and the garage area is a lot calmer there than it is in the Sprint Cup Series and it kind of at this point in time is very appealing.”
