As at Pocono last week, Labonte will be joined at Michigan this weekend by older brother Terry, who is subbing for Kyle Petty in the team’s No. 45 Dodge.
RACING WITH FAMILY
Bobby Labonte looks forward to Michigan this weekend
Labonte will be racing with his brother on Father's Day
Lee Montgomery / SceneDaily.com
Petty Enterprises driver Bobby Labonte has more victories, top-five and top-10 finishes at tracks other than Michigan International Speedway, but it's still his favorite track.
“I get asked about my favorite race track a lot. I always say Michigan,” Labonte said as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series prepares to head to the track for this weekend's LifeLock 400. “Your car doesn’t have to be perfect at Michigan. You can move around the race track and find where you car is working the best. So it puts the racing a little more into the hands of the driver. It’s plenty wide enough to race and pass. So far it has been hard to pass in these new cars. I’m anxious to see how it does at Michigan where you have so much room.”
The new model Cup car has been a handful for NASCAR teams, as they have tried to get it to turn better in the corners. Since turning has been made more difficult, passing has been made even more difficult than with the old car.
Still, Labonte said he’s been able to pass in the last few weeks – on pit road.
“While it has been hard to pass on the race track, I’ve been able to pick up a lot of spots on pit road over the last several weeks,” Labonte said. "The No. 43 pit crew has been awesome. Between the fast stops and the great calls that [crew chief] Jeff Meendering has been making, we’re able to pick up valuable track positions.
“Pit road is a competitive place these days. Some teams have crews that do nothing besides pit the car. My team has been as good as any of them.”
As at Pocono last week, Labonte will be joined at Michigan this weekend by older brother Terry, who is subbing for Kyle Petty in the team’s No. 45 Dodge. That should make their father, Bob, proud.
“I couldn’t think of a better way to help our family celebrate Father’s Day than to have my brother as my teammate,” Bobby Labonte said. “I hope our father will enjoy watching us race together. Our father is the single most important reason for our driving careers. A lot of the success that I’ve had on the race track is a result of coming from a racing family.”
Posted June 12, 2008 , 5:43 pm EST Last Updated June 14, 2008 , 8:15 am EST
