Petty Enterprises’ Bobby Labonte lauded his crew for its pit strategy in Sunday’s Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway.
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Bobby Labonte praises his crew for strong finish
SceneDaily Staff
Petty Enterprises’ Bobby Labonte lauded his crew for its pit strategy in Sunday’s Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway. Labonte nursed older tires to finish 11th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.
After the race, Labonte said that he was proud of the strategy employed by crew chief Jeff Meendering. With teams opting for a variety of pit strategies in the race, Labonte found himself off sequence with the leaders, but managing to gain ground on them.
While a late incident cost him a shot at a top-10 finish, Labonte was pleased with the overall effort of his group.
“[We] used a little bit of strategy there … We were on older tires compared to some guys … We held on and I got in the wall when there was about three to go,” Labonte said. “I couldn’t be more proud of these guys for making that decision and giving us some track position that’s so valuable.”
Labonte said that he had 35 laps on his tires at the race’s end after not taking tires when most of the field did with 22 laps to go. That
allowed him to net a better finish and to climb a spot to 19th in the points standings.
“We probably didn’t have an 11th-place car but we held on there … We need that and we are trying to get this thing turned around for us,” he said.
Labonte ran with his brother, Terry, as his teammate in the Petty Enterprises No. 45 entry as Kyle Petty moved into the TNT booth for a
six-race stint. Bobby Labonte said that he coached his brother, a two-time series champion, a bit on racing with NASCAR’s new model.
“We talked a little bit,” Bobby Labonte said. “He hadn’t driven these cars in a while so there’s a little bit of things that are different for him that he’s not used to.”
Posted June 08, 2008 , 8:24 pm EST Last Updated June 10, 2008 , 12:34 am EST
