Keselowski Admits He Jumped the Gun in Blaming Ragan for Restart
At the conclusion of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Aaron’s 499 Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, Brad Keselowski, immediately took to Twitter with complaints that the final restart was flawed. These complaints followed No. 34 Farm Rich Ford driver, David Ragan’s, actions during the final restart that led to his 2nd NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory. Immediately following the conclusion of the race Keselowski tweeted, “Mad as hell about that finish. We were supposed to line up 10th when the 34 switched lanes entering 3 before green. That lane won. I’m happy as hell a small team won. Doesn’t change the fact that the restart was blatantly wrong.”
In the Media Center following his trip to Victory Lane, Ragan commented on Keselowski’s allegations. He said, “We were running 8th when I guess the one to go around the caution time, and NASCAR, I guess it’s standard procedure, they always go back through the running order and adjust any cars that need to be adjusted, I guess with film maybe when the caution came out in the back straightaway wreck, and I knew that we were probably a little higher than what we should be because we were running 20th or so when that wreck happened and we made it through, so they adjusted the lineup. The 95, the 2, and the 34. So NASCAR says that on the radio. They tell the spotters, tell the crew chief, and so the 95 pulls up. Well, obviously Brad wanted to start on the outside, because he knew the same thing that I knew, that the outside lane had an advantage on the restart, but he just didn’t want to listen to NASCAR. So NASCAR makes the call on where we line up at, and I listen to what NASCAR has to say.”
On Tuesday, after further review and inquiry about the final events of the Aaron’s 499, Keselowki extended a formal apology to No. 34 Front Row Motorsports driver, David Ragan, and his fans. Keselowksi said, “I finally had a chance to digest what happened at the end of the Cup race at Talladega on Sunday. I owe David Ragan and his fans an apology. I placed blame on David Ragan for the restart lineup confusion when it wasn’t his fault…It was a confusing time for all of us. I want to send a sincere congratulation out to David Ragan and everyone at Front Row Motorsports. It was a very cool win for our sport.”
Later Tuesday Ragan tweeted a response to Brad’s apology. Ragan said, “Good to hear from Keselowski today. He didn’t have to correct the wrong, but he did and that was pretty cool.”
With the misunderstanding behind them, both drivers can focus their attention on the Bojangle’s Southern 500 this Saturday at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, SC.
Treasure Hunters From Around The World Gathering At Darlington Raceway
Darlington Raceway, along with the Florence Visitors Bureau, and the Pee Dee Geocachers, have teamed up to give fans attending the Bojangles Southern 500 this weekend a unique opportunity to hunt for treasure located around the hallowed grounds of the Track To Tough To Tame.
Treasure hunting has been around almost since the beginning of time. Once upon a time a treasure hunters tools included tattered maps, shovels, a pick ax, or on rare occasions, a divining rod.
Those days are all but gone.
Today’s modern treasure hunters use cell phones, GPS tracking devices, the internet, and a technologically advanced method called Geocaching.
Geocaching started about 13 years ago as a high tech game of hiding, and seeking, containers called caches; or geocaches.
Caches can vary from small tubes containing paper logs, to large ammo boxes containing trinkets, or toys for trading. Some of these items have serial numbers which allows tracking on the internet.
Geocaching uses the internet to provide information and GPS coordinates to the location of caches all around the world.
Rumor has it that a geocacher actually found the elusive needle in the haystack.
What makes geocaching even simpler is that smart phones can access the internet from almost anywhere.
Enhancing your hunting experience is also just as simple. Located on the internet are several geocaching and GPS apps available for download to your smart phone, or tablet, at no cost.
Treasure hunters at this weekend’s Bojangles Southern 500 will be treated to geocaching at its finest.
When fans are ready to start hunting, they should check in at the booth located in front of the raceway museum.
There they will find GPS coordinates leading them to caches hidden around the speedway. These caches will contain a trivia question and information to help them find other caches.
The first 200 lucky fans that have the right combination of caches, and correct answers, will be rewarded with a one-of-a-kind Darlington Raceway commemorative coin.
So, if you’re heading out to the Darlington Raceway for the Bojangles Southern 500, and want to do some real treasure hunting, brush up on your Darlington trivia, charge your cell phone, and be sure to bring along family and friends, so no one misses this once in a lifetime opportunity.
Your treasure is waiting.
To purchase tickets for the Bojangles Southern 500, or to find out more information about this weekend’s festivities at the Darlington Raceway, log on to one of the following web sights.
www.darlingtonraceway.com
www.geocaching.com
www.visitflo.com
Crunching The Numbers: Darlington
With a weekend full of rain delays, wild wrecks, close finishes, and underdog winners at Talladega Superspeedway behind them, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series head to Darlington Raceway, NASCAR’s first superspeedway, for some night racing on Mother’s Day weekend at the track that is “Too Tough To Tame”.
Sprint Cup Series
Saturday night’s 64th Annual Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington, which has become a staple of Mother’s Day weekend in recent years, is one of the toughest races of the year in large part to the egg shaped nature of the track that gives crew chiefs fits when trying to perfect the setup of the car and the inevitable “Darlington Stripe” that drivers are sure to get during the duration of the event. The new Gen6 car will also make its Darlington debut this weekend and 500 miles on Saturday will tell the tale if early season success with the car will lead to Victory Lane or if we’ll see a new winner take the checkered flag.
| Driver | Races | Win | Top 5 | Top 10 | Pole | Laps Led | Avg. Start | Avg. Finish |
| Denny Hamlin | 7 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 354 | 10.7 | 5.9 |
| Jimmie Johnson | 14 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 543 | 12.5 | 9.1 |
| Brad Keselowski | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 16.2 | 9.2 |
| Martin Truex, Jr. | 7 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 98 | 24.3 | 11.3 |
| Tony Stewart | 20 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 20 | 17.1 | 11.8 |
| Jeff Gordon | 32 | 7 | 18 | 21 | 3 | 1720 | 6.7 | 11.8 |
| Jeff Burton | 30 | 2 | 8 | 16 | 0 | 817 | 20.7 | 12.3 |
| Mark Martin | 46 | 2 | 17 | 26 | 2 | 801 | 13.3 | 12.4 |
| Ryan Newman | 14 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 325 | 7.9 | 12.4 |
| Carl Edwards | 9 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 94 | 15.8 | 13.1 |
Who To Watch: This weekend, Denny Hamlin is scheduled to make a full time return to racing after getting out early at Talladega last weekend. Hamlin couldn’t have picked a better track to make his return at than Darlington because Hamlin leads all active drivers with the best average finish of 5.9 in seven starts at the track, along with one win, three top fives, six top tens, and 354 laps led. The next driver, Jimmie Johnson, is a full 3.2 position points behind with an average finish of 9.1 in 14 starts. However, Johnson does have more wins, top fives, top tens, and laps led than Hamlin with three wins, seven top fives, 10 top tens, and 543 laps led. Defending series champion, Brad Keselowski, will also be another to watch with his 9.2 average finish in four starts, which is comprised of one top five and two top tens.
One last driver to keep an eye on is Jeff Gordon, who is the wins leader among active drivers with seven wins in 32 starts. Gordon also has amassed 18 top fives, 21 top tens, three poles, 1720 laps led and an average finish of 11.8. Gordon will also be making his 700th career Sprint Cup Series start this weekend.
Nationwide Series
As has been commonplace for Nationwide and Cup Series companion weekends all season long, several Cup drivers will run the Nationwide race in order to learn information for the Cup race and to go all out to win the trophy and Friday night’s VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200 will be more of the same with the Cup regulars battling it out with the Nationwide regulars for supremacy at Darlington.
| Driver | Races | Win | Top 5 | Top 10 | Pole | Laps Led | Avg. Start | Avg. Finish |
| Austin Dillon | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | 5.0 |
| Joey Logano | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4.5 | 6.5 |
| Sam Hornish, Jr. | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 10.0 | 7.5 |
| Matt Kenseth | 16 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 0 | 327 | 12.4 | 9.7 |
| Justin Allgaier | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 11.0 | 9.8 |
| Kasey Kahne | 10 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 46 | 13.7 | 12.8 |
| Reed Sorenson | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 20.5 | 13.0 |
| Kyle Busch | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 273 | 5.1 | 13.5 |
| Jeff Green | 19 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 86 | 16.1 | 14.9 |
| Trevor Bayne | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.0 | 16.0 |
Who To Watch: Heading into his second start at the track, Austin Dillon leads all drivers with the best average finish of 5.0 after his 5th place finish last year and his qualifying run that placed him in 3rd to start the race. Next in line is Joey Logano, with one win, one top five, one top ten, four laps led and an average finish of 6.5 in two starts. Others who should be good at Darlington include: Sam Hornish, Jr., who has one top five, one top ten, three laps led, and an average finish of 7.5 in two starts; Matt Kenseth, with three wins, nine top fives, twelve top tens, 327 laps led, and an average finish of 9.7 in 16 starts; and Justin Allgaier, with two top fives, two top tens, 31 laps led, and an average finish of 9.8 in four starts.
Surprising and Not Surprising: Talladega Aaron’s 499
With a three hour plus rain delay pushing the Aaron’s 499 from day into a Talladega Night, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Alabama 2.66 mile oval.
Surprising: While Talladega has seen its share of calamities, the 44th annual race running seemed to be the granddaddy of all mayhem. There was not just one ‘big one’ but two, with sixteen cars involved in the first wreck early in the race and twelve cars in the second ‘big one’ near the end of the race.
In between the crashes, there was the weather red flag, which lasted three hours, 36 minutes and six seconds, pushing the race to its finish in what some called darkness.
There were two drivers, however, who experienced the most ‘Dega mayhem. Kurt Busch, driving the No. 78 Furniture Row/Beautyrest Chevrolet, was having a great run until getting clipped by another car as it slipped down the track.
This sent Busch airborne and rolling over and over to eventually land smack dab on top of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet of Ryan Newman.
“We just got hit from behind and along for the ride we went,” Busch said. “It’s Talladega, what can I say.”
“That’s no way to end a race,” Newman said. “You got what you wanted but that’s just poor judgment restarting the race, running in the dark and running in the rain.”
Not Surprising: While ‘Dega may have been filled with mayhem for many drivers, it was a dream come true and the luckiest track ever for two Ford drivers, who both just happened to be named David.
For David Ragan, winning his first race at Talladega and scoring the first ever victory for his team Front Row Motorsports, Talladega was indeed a dream come true.
“I always knew in my heart I would get another chance,” Ragan said. “We know we are an underdog but we know ‘Dega is an equalizer.”
“How sweet to see all those Fords up there for the win,” Ragan continued. “I’m looking at my mirror and I was wondering if I was dreaming.”
While David Ragan stood in Victory Lane, he would not have been there without the push of his teammate David Gilliland, who himself pronounced Talladega as the luckiest track ever.
“It was a big day,” the driver of the No. 38 Love’s Travel Stops Ford said. “A lot of it had to do with this little note from my 10-year-old daughter Taylor wishing me good luck.”
“She wrote that with a little horseshoe on it and put it on my dash before the race,” Gilliland continued. “And she had some horseshoe good luck earrings in too.”
Surprising: The race at Talladega was surprisingly nightmarish for one Trevor Bayne, who had once asked if he was dreaming after winning the Daytona 500. The driver of the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford blew up, bringing out the first caution of the race.
“There was no warning at all,” Bayne said of his engine issue. “I got to turn one and it let go.”
“I’m surprised the whole field didn’t crash with as much oil that was pouring out of this thing.”
Not Surprising: Given the carnage on the race track, it was not surprising that Trevor Bayne was not the only driver watching the remainder of the race from his motor home. In fact, Kasey Kahne, who was involved in the ‘big one’ early on, watched what was left of the race from his couch at home.
“Btw I’m on the couch at home,” Kahne, driver of the No. 5 Time Warner Cable Chevrolet for Hendrick Motor Sports, tweeted after being knocked early. “This sucks.”
Kahne finished 42nd and lost three spots in the point standings, falling from the third to the sixth position.
Surprising: Demonstrating a new-found maturity, Kyle Busch accepted full responsibility for causing the first ‘big one’ at Talladega.
“Kind of caused it,” the driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota said. “I really don’t know what happened.”
“I know I got in the back of the No. 5,” Busch continued. “I hated that I caused a melee for everybody especially early in the race.”
“I hated that we all got crashed in that deal.”
Not Surprising: Restrictor plate racing does indeed make strange bedfellows. There was no better demonstration of this than the ‘friends’ that Denny Hamlin made to enable his successful comeback to the sport after his back injury.
“It means a lot as a driver to have your peers have your back like that,” Hamlin said of Tony Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya, Michael Waltrip and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., all of whom fell to the back of the pack to help him. “They really sacrificed the first part of the race for me.”
“I can’t thank them enough.”
Also, not surprisingly, the driver change between Hamlin and Brian Vickers went perfectly, allowing Hamlin to escape through the roof hatch to the broadcast booth in the Hollywood Hotel while watching his replacement Brian Vickers take the wheel, only to wreck out in the ‘big one.’
“Everything went seamless and painless,” Hamlin said. “Every week I feel a lot better.”
Surprising: Danica Patrick showed some surprisingly skilled evasive moves in avoiding the first wreck and was in good position until the late-race accident on lap 182 ended her day. The driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Stewart Haas Racing finished 33rd.
“We were watching and we were like, ‘Holy Cow’,” Tony Gibson, crew chief, said of Danica’s avoidance of the first ‘big one’. “I don’t know how she missed it.”
“It’s just unfortunate how it ended up with the late-race crash,” Gibson continued. “But that’s part of restrictor-plate racing.”
Not Surprising: With a rain delay of the magnitude at Talladega, it was not surprising that several drivers and cars had issues attempting to go back racing. Juan Pablo Montoya could not get his No. 42 Clorox Chevrolet re-started after the rain delay and ended up behind the wall before returning to the track for a 25th place finish.
Joey Logano was right there with JPM struggling to restart after the rain delay, however, his problem was more serious and ultimately fatal. The No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford had some sort of engine issue that led to his 35th place finish.
“We’re not sure what happened,” Logano said. “We’re thinking maybe an air pocket somehow got in the water system, but it doesn’t make sense.”
“It’s a bummer when you’re sitting third when it is raining and you don’t finish the race.”
Surprising: Toyota had a good day at Talladega with occasional Toyota driver and team owner Michael Waltrip surprisingly leading the way. Waltrip was the highest running Toyota with a fourth place finish, followed by Martin Truex Jr. in seventh and lap-leader Matt Kenseth in eighth.
“I love being a part of the Toyota family,” the driver of the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine/Alabama National Champ Toyota said. “We had a great run.”
“I had a ball,” Waltrip continued. “I love being at Talladega and I love racing.”
Not Surprising: Jimmie Johnson extended his points lead to 41 over second place Carl Edwards with his fifth place finish at Talladega.
“It was obviously a very good day for our Lowe’s Chevrolet,” Johnson said. “We had a very fast car and I felt like we were a player all day long, and that’s awesome.”
Surprising: Regan Smith, behind the wheel of the No. 51 Hendricks.com Chevrolet, was surprisingly disappointed with his top-ten finish, especially after winning the crash-filled Nationwide race.
“Well the last few laps I didn’t see much because it was pretty dark,” Smith said. “A little disappointed.”
“I kept getting stalled out by the cars on the outside.”
Not Surprising: Even with the mayhem of restrictor plate racing, Aric Almirola, behind the wheel of the No. 43 Gwaltney Ford, continued his streak of consecutive top-ten finishes. In fact, he will make history for Richard Petty Motorsports at Darlington if he finishes in the top-ten there.
“We sure are on a roll lately,” Almirola said. “I think we are the only people that aren’t surprised we are seventh in points and have the longest current top-10 streak in the series.”
“We just need to keep it up and start moving to top-fives and hopefully a win soon.”
Hot 20 over the past 10 – Kenseth heads to Darlington 38 points richer
Funny what 38 points can do for a driver. That is the amount NASCAR gave back to Matt Kenseth after hearing the appeal for that engine violation that bit him after Kansas. For the 2003 champion, the change of mind moved him from outside a Chase place all the way up to fourth in the standings.
His boss, Joe Gibbs, had all penalties removed from him. Crew chief Jason Radcliff will only have to take a one race vacation, instead of six, but he did not exactly get a free pass. His $200,000 fine was upheld. I think he might have some help in paying that off. Maybe the good folks who built the engine, Toyota Racing Development, might want to chip in. Maybe the chap whose job it is to check the manifest that outlined the parts and their weights might open his wallet, too.
While the fact the team did have a chance to catch the miscue off that manifest, this penalty seemed more in line with what the transgression warranted. The engine part did not enhance performance, did not influence the race outcome, and was obviously unintentional. In this case, justice has been served, and that is something we don’t often say when it comes to NASCAR.
With the return of those points, Kenseth is our biggest mover of the past week as he is now our fourth hottest driver, instead of 16th. Rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr, with ten points races to his credit, is up seven positions to 16th. Cooling down, both Ryan Newman and Kyle Busch drop four notches over the past week.
Saturday night marks the 110th Sprint Cup race held at Darlington, South Carolina since 1950. Of the drivers entered, nine have claimed a victory on the track too tough to tame. Jeff Gordon has seven, with his last coming in 2005. In an eight race run, from the fall of 1995 to the spring of 1999, Gordon won five with another trio of Top Fives.
The favorite? Maybe that would be one Jimmie Kenneth Johnson, the winner of three, including the event there one year ago. Among the other present Chase contenders, only Kyle Busch and Greg Biffle (with two) have won there. Mind you, after last week, maybe there might be yet another surprise in the offing.
| Name | Points | POS | LW | W | T5 | T10 |
| Jimmie Johnson | 383 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| Carl Edwards | 342 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | 324 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Matt Kenseth | 317 | 4 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Clint Bowyer | 316 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| Brad Keselowski | 314 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| Kasey Kahne | 299 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Aric Almirola | 293 | 8 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Paul Menard | 290 | 9 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Kyle Busch | 285 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 5 |
| Greg Biffle | 280 | 11 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Kevin Harvick | 276 | 12 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Martin Truex, Jr. | 269 | 13 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Jeff Gordon | 269 | 14 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Jamie McMurray | 267 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. | 256 | 16 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan Newman | 242 | 17 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Joey Logano | 237 | 18 | 17 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Jeff Burton | 235 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Kurt Busch | 231 | 20 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
Bobby Labonte’s Career Is One of Trials, Triumphs and Raw Deals
Bobby Labonte made his 700th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) start at Talladega Superspeedway this past Sunday leading laps under green before being swept up in a late race wreck finishing 20th. Today is the champ’s 49th birthday and I thought a good way to celebrate it would be to remember all of his great NASCAR accomplishments. His Cup debut came back in 1991 driving the No.14 Slim Jim Oldsmobile for his father, Bob Labonte at Dover. He finished 34th after starting 33rd. He won the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) title that year and just about won it again in 1992 losing by 3 points to Joe Nemechek.
His big break came in 1993 getting a ride with Bill Davis Racing in the No.22. He finished a respectable 19th in the standings with a best finish of 7th and a pole at Richmond. In 1994, he had a career best result of 5th at Michigan and finished the season 21st in points. With Dale Jarrett leaving Joe Gibbs Racing, Bobby got a chance to pilot the No.18 in 1995. It was a match made in heaven and the true potential of Bobby Labonte was about to be witnessed. He won the Coke 600 and swept the Michigan races in route to a solid 10th place points finish leading nearly 300 laps and turning a lot of heads. People realized very quickly that this guy was the real deal as the success continued into 1996 and beyond.
Bobby had a decent season in ’96 but failed to win a race until the final event of the year at Atlanta Motor Speedway. His older brother Terry was trying to win the championship while Bobby starting on pole for the event. In one of the more memorable moments in NASCAR history, Bobby crossed the line winning his 4th NSCS race while Terry finished 5th winning his second championship. The two celebrated together and the family was ecstatic. A few years later, it was Bobby’s turn to hoist the hardware.
After winning 5 races and finishing runner-up to Dale Jarrett in 1999, Bobby was determined to win the Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) title. He won 4 more races in 2000 including the highly sought after Brickyard 400 trophy. He battled fiercely with 1989 NSCS champion Rusty Wallace for the victory and finally made his way by with 14 laps remaining. Bobby went on to win the title by a massive margin of 265 points over arguably the greatest stock car driver that ever lived, Dale Earnhardt. He was unable to defend his title in 2001 and what he is most remembered for that year has to be his scary crash at Talladega. Bobby was trying to work the high lane battling for the win with Dale Jr. on the final lap when Bobby Hamilton attempted to make a move underneath the No.18. The Bobby’s made contact and Labonte was sent over on his lid while 20 other cars piled into the massive wreck.
Labonte was unharmed thankfully and soldiered on to a 6th place finish in the standings and winning the IROC title. 2002 was a tough year for the champ; in fact it was his worst showing since 1994 when he was with Davis. Although he won a race at Martinsville, he only managed to get a 16th place points finish posting just 7 top 10’s. 2003 was better for him making his way back into the top 10 in the standings (8th) and winning two more races. The 2003 finale at Homestead was a significant one for NASCAR being the final Winston Cup sponsored race. Bill Elliott looked to have it in the bag until a flat tire with half a lap to go handed the victory to Bobby Labonte. Bobby had now won at least 1 race every year for the past 9 which is obviously an impressive feat.
Unfortunately, we are nearing the 10 year anniversary of that win and Bobby has yet to visit victory lane since. He has come so close so many times but win number 22 eludes him. In 2004, Jimmie Johnson narrowly beat him off pit road at Darlington and even though he had a faster car, Labonte was unable to get around the No.48 who won the race. He also finished 2nd to Rusty Wallace that year at Martinsville on his way to a 12th place finish in the standings. 2005 ended up being the worst of Bobby’s career up to that point finishing 24th in the standings while his teammate Tony Stewart won the championship.
On a very strange night at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2005, Bobby almost won the Coke 600. It happened to be the 10 year anniversary of Bobby’s first ever NSCS win at that very track almost to the very day. The race had a record 22 cautions and went past midnight. Tempers flared between multiple drivers and big wrecks were the story until Joe Nemechek found himself leading with 10 to go. Suddenly, he crashed and Jimmie Johnson narrowly avoided him as he came back down the track. Bobby Labonte was now leading the race driving the FedEx paint scheme because Jason Leffler who was supposed to have that sponsor missed the race. The FOX commentators talked to Bobby under caution and you could tell that the tension was high and he was anxious to get going. The race became a 5 lap knock-down drag-out fight to the finish between Bobby Labonte and Jimmie Johnson who had much fresher tires and much faster car. Bobby held him off even when JJ made a move to the inside on the final lap. They drove off into turn 3 and it seemed Bobby might win until Johnson got alongside him running the high line. It was a drag race to the line and in a spectacular photo finish, Jimmie Johnson defeated Labonte by .027 hundredths. In frustration, Bobby kicked the side of his car knowing that he might never get a chance like that again.
At the conclusion of 2005, he left Gibbs and joined the legendary Petty Enterprises team trying to bring them back to their former glory. He almost did nearly winning Martinsville in a thrilling late race battle between Hamlin, Labonte and Johnson. He gave the team its best points finish in 7 years finishing 21st and improving to 18th in 2007. In 2008, Bobby signed a 4 year extension with Petty and this is the part where I start talking about raw deals. Right before Christmas, he was released from the team and they merged with Gillet-Evernham. A former champion of our sport who poured his heart and soul into that No.43 team sat there ride-less. Fortunately, he got a car in late January driving for Hall Of Fame Racing which teamed up with Yates. At Las Vegas, the car was blistering fast and Bobby battled for the lead with Kyle Busch late in the race. The caution flew, pit stops were made and bad luck bit Bobby once again. He was blocked in his pit stall costing him multiple spots forcing him to restart around 8th or 9th. He drove through the field and was actually 2 tenths quicker than race winner Kyle Busch on the final lap in traffic but he ran out of time finishing 5th.
Victory had been in Labonte’s reach yet again before slipping through his fingers at the last second. Later that year, he got screwed (for lack of a better term) by his team when they replaced him mid-season with Erik Darnell who brought sponsorship. Bobby ran for TRG finishing 10th at Talladega; the best finish ever for that team. In 2010, he joined them full-time and ran the 24 Hours of Daytona nearly winning that historic race before the car ran out of fuel 3 laps ahead of the 2nd place car costing them the win. May 16th, 2010 was a sad day for Bobby Labonte fans everywhere when he pulled into the garage on lap 65 at Dover International Speedway. He didn’t have a mechanical issue, he was start and parking. A former NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide and IROC champion was parking his car early in a race for a $75,000 pay day. He left the team soon after and drove for many different teams the remainder of the year. The teams included Robby Gordon, Phoenix Racing and Stavola-Labonte Racing which was c0-owned by his older brother. It was the first time he ever went a season without a top 10 with a best finish of 16th.
In 2011, he joined JTG-Daugherty Racing where he remains to this day. In his very first race with them, he had another chance at victory lane. It wasn’t the Coke 600, Martinsville, Darlington or Las Vegas though…..it was the 53rd running of the Daytona 500. He shoved rookie Trevor Bayne far out in front of the field with half a lap to go but as he got ready to make his move to try to steal the win, the Fords of Carl Edwards and David Gilliland crashed the party pushing Bobby back to 4th as they raced to the line. He was visibly disappointed following the race after watching yet another win pass him by. In 2012, he had his best season in 4 years finishing 23rd in the standings. So far in 2013, Bobby has led 5 laps and posted a best finish of 15th at the Daytona 500.
From hoisting the championship trophy in three different series to start and parking, Bobby Labonte’s career has been full of many ups and downs. He has fought through all the adversity though and continues to race on hoping to one day win that 22nd NSCS race. There is a contingent of people out that that feel the need to criticize Bobby saying that he’s washed up and needs to retire but let me tell you how ignorant that statement really is. Since leaving Joe Gibbs Racing, Bobby has given teams such as Hall of Fame Racing, Petty Enterprises, TRG and JTG some of the best runs of their existence or in quite some time. If you put him in a top tier ride, he will perform. Champions don’t forget how to drive a racecar and this champion could be a contender again in faster equipment. He seems content though using his experience to try to help JTG build their program and there is nothing wrong with that. He is a great person and has proven that he belongs in NASCAR and should be allowed to race for as long as he pleases without anyone judging him or telling him what to do. NASCAR needs more drivers like Bobby Labonte and he deserves respect for what his done; not criticism. Lastly, I’d like to say congrats on your 700th start Bobby and good luck in final 26 races of 2013!
