NASCAR Cup

Daytona II: Bobby Labonte preview

Labonte to Make 600th Start in Daytona Makes Debut Behind No. 09 Chevrolet for Phoenix Racing Spartanburg, S.C. (June 29, 2010) - Hitting another milestone, 2000 Sprint Cup champion Bobby Labonte will be making his 600th career start and his 598 ...

Published: Jun 30, 2010, 7:12 PM

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Labonte to Make 600th Start in Daytona
Makes Debut Behind No. 09 Chevrolet for Phoenix Racing

Spartanburg, S.C. (June 29, 2010) - Hitting another milestone, 2000 Sprint Cup champion Bobby Labonte will be making his 600th career start and his 598 consecutive start this weekend. Labonte will be racing for Phoenix Racing and the No. 09 Phoenix Construction Chevrolet in Saturday night's Coke Zero 400 at the infamous 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway.

Labonte's 600th start will rank him 20th in overall Career Sprint Cup starts. Richard Petty is the all-time leader with 1,185 Career Sprint Cup starts.

Labonte will also be supporting a new red, white and blue helmet, to help raise awareness for the Hope For The Warriors non-profit organization. Another helmet will be signed by the participating drivers of the Coke Zero 400. Both helmets will be auctioned off after this weekend's events.

Bobby Labonte has 35 starts, earned two pole positions, five top-five and eight top-10 finishes and has over 68 laps led at Daytona.

Comments from Bobby Labonte on Daytona International Speedway the opportunity with Phoenix Racing: "This is a great opportunity to be here at Daytona with Phoenix Racing and James Finch. We were able to have some discussions this off-season about the future, and when I decided to make some changes, James called. It's a great opportunity. The team uses Hendrick Motorsports equipment and they were in victory lane last year at Talladega. This is a great opportunity to be behind the No. 09 Phoenix Construction Chevrolet.

"Even though this race is at night, it's a little bit cooler than it would be during the day. The track is still hotter than it was in February. Daytona is a handling track. The hot temperatures make you slide around for 400 miles. It's like ice because it's so slick. Moving the race to the night helped, but it's still slick.

"Having 600 starts, wow, that is a lot of racing. It is just an honor and a privilge to be able to have that many races under my belt. There have been so many people that have helped me get to this point in my career. I'm not racing just to hit milestones or anything like that. Like I've said, I want to win and be competitive. Hitting 600 starts, it's great, and hopefully there will be a lot more too.

"We are supporting a great organization this weekend, Hope For The Warriors, with our red, white and blue helmet. The helmet that I will be wearing will be auctioned off through the Bobby Labonte Foundation with proceeds going to both the Hope for the Warriors and Bobby Labonte Foundation. This is a special weekend to honor our country and we look forward to putting on a great show for all of fans."

-source: bobby labonte PR

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