| | | | | | THREE-EX | Labonte has won Martinsville in all three NASCAR series | |
| | By Rea White / SceneDaily.com HAMPTON, GA -- Bobby Labonte is the only driver to have won in all three NASCAR touring series at Martinsville Speedway, so he has plenty of reasons to look forward to Sunday’s Goody’s Cool Orange 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race there.
It’s also considered the home track for his Petty Enterprises team and a spot where Labonte has two top-four positions in the last five races.
The normally low-key driver says that he’s looking forward to racing there.
“I’m excited to get to Martinsville this weekend because I’ve liked that place since the first time I got on the track,” he said. “That’s just the way some race tracks are. It’s not one thing about them that you can really put your finger on.
“You just have a good feel for them right out of the box.”
Labonte said that one of his career highlights is the fact that he’s won in all three series at the track. He won there in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2005, in what is now the Nationwide Series in 1992 and in what is now the Sprint Cup Series in 2002.
“That has to rank right up there with my championship and my Brickyard trophy,” he said.
In fact, Labonte says that he’s glad the series runs back-to-back short-track races. Drivers competed at Bristol the week before last
weekend's Easter break.
Going into short-track races, Labonte says that drivers have to have a different mindset and accept that the racing will be rough. Knowing that makes it easier to take what can happen on an oval such as the 0.526-mile Martinsville track.
“You know that there is a chance you are going to get involved in something you had nothing to do with,” he said. “So to be able to zone in on that for, really, three weeks is great.”
| | Posted March 28, 2008 , 11:52 am EST
Last Updated March 28, 2008 , 11:53 am EST | | | | | | | | | | |
