Track: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Event: Crown Royal Presents The Samuel Deeds at the Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com
Date: Sunday, July 28
TV/Radio: ESPN / IMS Radio
Start: 34th
Finish: 36th
RECAP AND QUOTES:
After experiencing a problem with the transmission, Bobby Labonte finished 36th in the Crown Royal Presents The Samuel Deeds 400 at the Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon. Ryan Newman won the 400-mile prestigious event at the 2.5-mile track where there were 20 lead changes among 12 drivers and three caution flags for 14 laps.
“Something happened to the transmission,” Bobby Labonte said. “It kept jumping out of fourth. It wouldn’t stay.”
TEAM CO-OWNER, BRAD DAUGHERTY ON THE TEAM’S STRUGGLES DURING THE WEEKEND: “I was really pleased when we unloaded. In our first practice on Friday, we were fast. We made some good changes to the car and Brian Burns (Crew Chief) did an excellent job getting the car up to optimal speed. When we went out to qualify, the track conditions had changed dramatically, so the car was really loose and we struggled, so we did not qualify well. That was the first problem we encountered. When the race started we ran okay, Bobby did a good job moving the car up. Then we started experiencing problems with 4th gear in the race car. Evidently, something broke in the linkage of the transmission and with the vibration of the drive-train, it would just not stay in gear. We fought that nearly all day long and were scared we were going to blow an engine due to that. Luckily we didn’t do that, but we ended up going to pit road a couple of times and moving down. At Indy, if you get down onto pit road, it becomes so difficult to pass. But everybody worked really hard, gave a tremendous effort and Bobby did a good job under the circumstances. We did not get the finish that we wanted or we think we deserve, but that’s how racing goes. So, we’ll bounce back fix the problems we had, go onto Pocono, and hopefully have a better weekend.”
BOBBY LABONTE STATS:
Career Starts: 709
Wins: 21
Top-five: 115
Top-10: 201
First Start: 06/03/1991 Dover
First Pole: 09/11/1993 Richmond
First Win: 05/28/1995 Charlotte
Last Pole: 04/04/2004 Texas
Last Win: 11/16/2003 Homestead (329 races since)
Driver DOB: 05/08/1964
Hometown: Corpus Christi, TX
Crew Chief: Brian Burns
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TAILGATER OF THE WEEK:
Do you want to win an all expense paid trip and be the VIP guest of JTG Daugherty Racing at the big race in Las Vegas in 2014?
If you answered yes, then get out to the track and let us know where you are tailgating! Each race weekend during the Sprint Cup season JTG Daugherty Racing will be scouting the infields and campgrounds, looking for the best tailgaters at the track. The best, most enthusiastic tailgaters each race weekend will win a custom prize pack and become eligible for our “TAILGATER OF THE YEAR” competition.
You can let us know where you are tailgating by tweeting us your location. Throughout the weekend, leading up to the green flag, our team members, owners and maybe even Bobby Labonte himself will be patrolling the infield and campsites looking for the best tailgaters. So, fire up your grills with Kingsford® Charcoal, heat up a can of Bush’s® Grillin’ Beans and clean up your messes with Clorox® and Scott® Brand Products!
Simply follow us on Twitter @NASCAR47 , send us a tweet with your tailgate location and include the hash tag #TweetYourTailgate.