B. Labonte Hopes To Continue Climb Toward Top At Brickyard
By Dick Mittman
allstate400atthebrickyard.com
Thursday, July 31, 2003

NASCAR Winston Cup Series star Bobby Labonte knows all about the hills and valleys of big-time auto racing. He's experienced the heights and depths of the sport since the calendar turned to 2000.

In 2000, Labonte won the Brickyard 400, the Winston Cup championship and $7,361,386. He was king of the stock-car racing hill. He slipped to 15th in the Brickyard in 2001 and sixth in the standings.

Last season, he tumbled down the mountain. He managed an 11th-place finish at Indy and overall had only one single victory and just seven top-10 finishes. He plummeted to 16th in the standings, his lowest ranking since a 21st in 1994, the year before his first full season with Joe Gibbs Racing.

At the same time, he watched teammate Tony Stewart win the Winston Cup championship.

Labonte brings his No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this week for Sunday's 10th annual Brickyard 400 scratching his way back up that racing mountain. He holds fifth place in the standings in the hunt for a second title at age 39.

"I think the biggest thing is if you have a down year," he said, "it's hard to stay encouraged and confident that you're going out there week in and week out and run good.

"But you've got to remember that to get back on top you've got to work real hard. Obviously, you might make changes. You might have to do things a little differently. So you've got to keep focused on that stuff."

The Brickyard will be Labonte's 351st career race. This season he has won at Atlanta and taken poles at Las Vegas, Texas and Michigan. Even more pertinent, he's had 10 top-five finishes, more than any other driver.

"When you run good, it's exciting," he said. "It's confidence week in and week out that when you go to the racetrack you think you've got a chance to win.

"But at the same time, you can't lose focus. Or you can't get to the point where you think you're going to do that all the time, it ain't no problem, it's easy. You've got to keep working at it, too. Just because you're doing well you can't relax any."

Labonte knows from experience. He tested in early July at Indianapolis and then went to Chicagoland Speedway for the Tropicana 400. He was in a pitched battle for the victory when suddenly his car was bumped and sent spinning into the wall. A fuel line broke, and flames erupted all around him. He managed to get down to the infield and struggled out of the window. He pounded his fists in frustration because a good run abruptly turned into a 36th-place finish.

"I always look at it a little bit on both sides," he said. "Just because you run good doesn't mean you've got the cat by the throat. You've got to work hard to stay there.

"I do know one thing: It's more fun to run good than it is not to run good."

Labonte said new chassis and new team personnel have helped him rebound this year.

Labonte, from Corpus Christi, Texas, has driven in all nine Brickyard 400s. He had a stretch between 1997 and 2000 where he finished second, third, second and first.

He said sometimes the Brickyard 400 seems like just another race on a long, arduous schedule. But when a driver wins the Brickyard, that feeling immediately changes.

"The moment after the race is over it's obviously different than any other race you go to, or any other race that I've won," he said.

Labonte noted that the things that happen to a driver after he wins at Indianapolis make the victory special. He points to the media coverage, the tradition of the Speedway and the fan attention as things that swing it away from being an ordinary race. Also, he adds that the way he is treated by Speedway officials makes the victory more than just a name on a piece of paper.

"It's all the little things, but it adds up to big things," he said.

"Obviously, it's a huge deal. I mean, one of these days when I come up here and bring my grandkids up here, it'll be easier to find than somewhere else. That's what I'm getting at. So I guess that's where I think it's a big deal."

Labonte departed Indy in 2000 atop the point standings and continued all the way to the season finale to join older brother Terry Labonte as a Winston Cup champion. This year there is a grueling 20-race grind without a break to the season finale Nov. 16 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Bobby Labonte said the team must continue running toward the front and hope luck falls their way. Series leader Matt Kenseth is 432 points ahead of Labonte.

"The end of the year, it ends up where it ends up," he said. "We're going to keep working to win races, and if we don't we'll finish second, third, fourth or fifth, whatever we have to do. But I think a positive outlook is the way we've been running and we go back to these tracks a second time. It's going to be exciting."

And whoever wins will be the last Winston Cup champion since Nextel takes over as series sponsor next year.

"Yeah, it'd be kind of cool to be the last one," Labonte said. "It'd be a heck of a party, probably." ***

Tickets: Reserved-seat Race Day tickets for the Brickyard 400 remain available. Tickets and parking can be purchased on the World Wide Web via www.imstix.com or by calling the IMS Ticket Office at (800) 822-INDY or (317) 492-6700.


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