NASCAR Cup

Charlotte: Bobby Labonte preview

Bobby Labonte on racing at Lowe's Motor Speedway in the Coca-Cola 600: "I've won at this track a couple of times and have had a few top-five finishes. I really like the track; it's a fun place. With the race being on Memorial Day weekend too, it's ...

Published: Jun 19, 2009, 7:55 PM

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Bobby Labonte on racing at Lowe's Motor Speedway in the Coca-Cola 600:

"I've won at this track a couple of times and have had a few top-five finishes. I really like the track; it's a fun place. With the race being on Memorial Day weekend too, it's a really special time of year for the military and generally is a really big weekend for racing as a whole with the Indy 500 and the Coke 600.

"We had a chance to see what our No. 96 Ask.com Ford Fusion will handle like at Charlotte and I think we'll be more competitive this weekend than we were able to be last weekend. It's one of those things that I know I've said over and over this year but, being with a new team, it's like starting over every time you go to a different track. I think we'll start better and finish better this week for the Coke 600."

Crew chief Ben Leslie on racing at Lowe's Motor Speedway in the Coca-Cola 600:

"I don't think we gave Bobby the best car to race with last weekend in the All-Star race. I am confident that we'll have a better race car for this weekend. I was really proud of our guys in the All-Star race. A lot of the success is based on their performance in that race and I felt we had solid pit stops and generally a positive race. I think we'll build on that this weekend and hopefully finish a solid race on Sunday."

Chassis:    RK-530

Backup:     RK-574

* Labonte has finished in the top-10 53 percent of attempted races at Lowe's Motor Speedway; 17 top-10s in 32 starts.

* Labonte has won at Lowe's Motor Speedway twice (1995, 2000) and has finished in the top five 12 times (37 percent of efforts).

* Labonte has started on the pole three times at the 1.5-mile oval and has started in the top five 11 times.

* Statistically speaking, Labonte is most consistent at Lowe's Motor Speedway with an average start of 13th and an average finish of 12th.

* In last week's Sprint All-Star Race, Labonte started 7th and finished 11th in his 17th start in the elite event.

* This weekend will mark Labonte's 558th race in the Sprint Cup Series.

-credit: hofr

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