Labonte takes his turn in spotlight with fifth-place finish at Bristol
BRISTOL, Tenn. (March 26, 2006) – Bobby Labonte brought the month of March to a close in a big way for Petty Enterprises, steering the No. 43 Cheerios / Betty Crocker Dodge to a fifth-place finish in Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Coming on the heels of teammate Kyle Petty’s eighth-place run a week earlier at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Sunday’s effort by Labonte puts both Petty Enterprises teams among the elite top 35 in car owner points – the benchmark used to guarantee starting spots beginning with next weekend’s DIRECTV 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
Petty also had a solid run Sunday, finishing 18th in the No. 45 Schwan’s Dodge.
After starting 30th in the 43-car field, Labonte patiently worked traffic and had advanced to 23rd place by lap 130. Although his car was not perfect, a series of adjustments helped balance the chassis and Labonte continued his methodical march toward the front – charging into the top 15 before the mid-point of the 500-lap marathon.
He rolled into the top 10 at lap 324 and soon began applying pressure on the cars in front of him. Labonte steered through six caution periods over the final 162 laps, avoided serious contact with other competitors and notched his best finish of the young season.
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