Preview

NASCAR Cup

Bobby Labonte on Michigan race

JTG Daugherty Racing driver is going to the track he likes the most and has three wins there.

Edited: Aug 16, 2013, 5:09 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Bobby Labonte, Toyota

Ready for another good weekend: "I talked to my crew chief Brian Burns a few times and it seems like from what we have done recently, we have narrowed some things down and made some gains with the No. 47 Kingsford Toyota," Bobby Labonte said. "I have been talking to him on what we can take to Michigan International Speedway. There are some things we have eliminated that we should not try during the weekend. We are going to go with what we think is going to better for us in the long run. We have a different engine package as well, which should be good for us. It's one of my favorite tracks and always has been. With their excitement and mine, we're looking forward to a good weekend."

Burns reunites with Labonte at MIS: "After a good finish (10th) at Watkins Glen International with AJ Allmendinger, it is good to have Bobby Labonte return to the No. 47 Kingsford Toyota Camry at Michigan International Speedway (MIS)," crew chief Brian Burns said. "Michigan is one of the tracks he likes the most and he has three wins there."

Bobby Labonte, Toyota

Photo by: Action Sports Photography

Aiming to improve upon Allmendinger's 19th-place finish in June with Labonte: "We are looking forward to being back at Michigan after having a solid finish (19th) with AJ Allmendinger in June," Burns said. "When we tested recently at Atlanta Motor Speedway with AJ, we learned some things that can translate to Michigan with Bobby. Since the last visit, we have a different front suspension package to show up with that will be even better than before."

Reflecting on the Watkins Glen International race: "Having AJ Allmendinger run up front and finish in the top-10 (10th) at Watkins Glen International helps boosts the team's confidence and assures us we are working in the right direction," Burns said. We are going to keep pushing as hard as we can in the same direction with Bobby Labonte behind the wheel of the No. 47 Kingsford Toyota Camry this weekend at Michigan International Speedway."

Team Morale: "I think running as well as we did at Watkins Glen International lifts everybody," competition director Bobby Hutchens said. "This JTG Daugherty Racing team has put in a lot of hours and hard work. It is finally paying off with all the times we have been to the wind tunnel, seven-post and pull-down rig. It paid off with a good finish last weekend."

Looking to improve at MIS: "The guys are working real hard to get our cars to run better from a handling standpoint," Hutchens said. "We learned some things with AJ at the Atlanta (Motor Speedway) test that will point us in the right direction at Michigan (International Speedway). We will use that data and the data from the previous Michigan race with AJ to help us this weekend with Bobby in the No. 47 Kingsford Toyota Camry."

Work that goes into having two drivers: "The biggest challenge with having two drivers mostly has to do with the interior of the car," Hutchens said. "The seats, belts and the location of the steering wheel and pedals are all different to name a few things. There is a lot of extra work on the interior. The team has done a great job of keeping things straight. Both drivers have been comfortable. When it comes down to being at the track, it is business as usual. We talk before practices and debrief after. The dynamic really does not change."

JTG Daugherty Racing

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Trevor Bayne looking for strong finish at Ford’s home track at Michigan

Next article Right place, right seat for Greg Biffle

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Ferrari promotes F2 racer to F1 reserve driver role

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Singapore GP

21 min

Ferrari promotes F2 racer to F1 reserve driver role

Employing team orders can simply be a matter of common sense

Formula 1

Employing team orders can simply be a matter of common sense

Max Verstappen risks penalty after FP1 clash at Portimao GTWC finale

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance

WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 45 min

Max Verstappen risks penalty after FP1 clash at Portimao GTWC finale

Why Christian Horner sees history repeating itself for Adrian Newey at Aston Martin

Formula 1

Singapore GP

Why Christian Horner sees history repeating itself for Adrian Newey at Aston Martin

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts